Shopping With Hetalia
by czieskara
Summary: Go shopping with your favorite Hetalia characters! Chapter 9 up! Lengthy..!  Rated T to be safe.
1. Italia Veneziano

Hello everyone, I'm czieskara. Nice to meet you~ =bows=

This is my first fanfic for ffn. I wrote these similarly to how the Counting Sheep series sounded like (I love them!). When you see a series of .. 's do try to pause and converse with the character. This might seem awkward, but you'll see how it works in a bit :3

These were meant for girls. If you're a guy.. vee. Pretend you're a girl! :

For maximum effect, read while listening to Italy's character song~!

Please do enjoy. ^J^

I don't own APH. If I did, Sealand would be the main character!

* * *

**Shopping with Hetalia**

**Chapter 1 – Italia Veneziano**

The sun shone brightly on the day you were supposed to meet up with a certain Italian for a shopping date. The two of you had met after a world conference when he'd accidentally stumbled over you while you were holding a stack of office supplies that rivaled the Leaning Tower of Pisa to begin with.

"_Vee~! I'm so sorry. Oh, I've never seen you here before! What's your name? Are you new here?"_

_.._

"_Mm! I'm Italy Veneziano! Nice to meet you~"_

_.._

"_Hehe.. I am a bit too clumsy, aren't I? Germany says so as well.. Oh no! I spilled ink on your coat!"_

_.._

"_That wasn't your only blazer, was it? Oh no... Ve... That makes me feel bad..."_

_.._

"_Ah! I know! The next world conference is going to be in Italy next week, right? Come early and see me so I can show you around! I'll buy you a new coat and maybe if we have time, treat you to some delicious pasta! How does that sound?"_

_.._

"_Ve~! I insist. It looks like the Italian fashions might look very good on you as well. Even fratello wears nothing but Italian-made clothes. Hehe~ I can't wait! See you next week then! Ciao!"_

And so it seemed that you had a date with the rather cute personification of Italy.

* * *

You had agreed to meet him in a park square near one of the more upscale shopping havens of Italy. The entire place was beautiful. The churches you had passed on the way to the square were marvelous works of art in themselves. The small but quaint houses looked like they were straight out of a Rennaissance painting. It seemed that even the streets were picture-perfect.

All of a sudden, your thoughts were interrupted by a certain Italian.

"Vee~! Buon giorno! Good morning~"

You see that Italy is as bright as usual, dressed in a crisp white shirt, beautifully damaged dark blue jeans and a very subtle pair of casual loafers. Are all Italians this stylish?

"I hope I didn't make you wait too long! It took me a while to leave my house you see.. Fratello has been very short-tempered recently."

..

"Oh, no~ Don't worry, it has nothing to do with you. It might have something to do with brother Spain, though~ But enough of that. How was your journey here?"

..

"I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the scenery~ My country IS really pretty, isn't it? You should see the countryside! Oh, and the girls are really pretty too! Hehe.. You're really beautiful, ve~."

..

"Ehehe.. I'm not lying or anything, you really are beautiful. I'm sure you'd look wonderful in our clothes! I'll help you find something really nice, I promise!"

You suddenly remember that more than half the designer brands you have heard of in your entire life are Italian.

And that you don't have the cash to spend on even half an Armani jacket. Your pay may be higher than most, but so were your expenses. Plane fare, insurance against Prussian attacks on your vital regions and all that.

And that Italy was probably wearing designer clothes as well.

"Huh? What's with that look on your face?"

..

"Oh! I will be the one to buy it for you~ It WAS my fault that your coat was ruined after all! I really do insist."

..

"Don't worry about the price~ These clothes I'm wearing aren't TOO expensive, really. Fratello is the one that likes to show off. You should see him when he goes on trips with Spain. He brings so many clothes~"

..

"Ve~ I think instead of talking, I should just show you, ne? Come on! There's so much I want you to see~!"

And so you were half led, half dragged by Italy along the streets of Venice. You passed many shops along the way, and Italy stopped at many of them to vee~ over cute scarves and such. The two of you finally went into a good-sized store with very minimal décor that almost screamed designer.

You awkwardly peruse a clothing rack, and see the price of a dress.

Huh. The price isn't too bad for a designer dress.

"Ve~ See? Not all designer clothing is expensive."

You see Italy holding up several clothing items, none of them jackets, blazers or coats.

"Huh? But I thought these would all look good on you. Vee. We're shopping, right? It wouldn't hurt not to get a nice shirt or two along with the blazer, ne?"

..

"I told you not to worry about the price.. Fratello would be mad at me if I let you pay for it. Besides, it's my pride as an Italian at stake if I don't buy you pretty clothing!"

You decide to let Italy buy you the clothes.

..

"Yay! It's good that you understand~ We countries have to take care of our friends, ne?"

Italy's face beamed with one of his signature smiles. It was easy to see how he managed to have so many friends, including the stern Germany and reserved Japan. Who wouldn't want this bundle of sunshine as a friend?

"Ve~ Come and try these on. I'll be waiting to see you~!"

You were ushered into a fitting room by several of the very amused female shop employees.

The first thing you try on is a very light and breezy sleeveless summer dress with a feminine flowery print.

"Wuoah~! Ve!"

Italy claps his hands in delight.

"I knew that would look nice on you! You look so pretty.. But I think that would look good with.. Hmm, let's see. Wait right here!"

Italy runs to another clothing rack and comes back with a belt that looks like a red velvety ribbon.

"Put that on.. No, not there, that place is for pants belts! Here, around your waist. Uwa~! Perfect!"

You look at yourself in the mirror. Somehow, you manage to look like you've just stepped out of a magazine catalog.

But you remind yourself that you are looking for a jacket!

..

"Ve? Oh, right, the coat! Um. I didn't see any that were particularly nice in the store."

..

"Mm. You're right. We should go look in a different store.. But do you like the dress?"

..

"I'm buying it for you~ Just because you look so pretty in it. Ve~!"

You suddenly have a vision of Germany scolding Italy for being so loose with his money.

"Ve? What's wrong?"

You tell Italy about his spending habits.

"Oh. Germany tells me about that as well.. I won't buy everything that looks good on you though!"

Italy looks pumped up.

"But I do like to see people in clothing that suits them. Tell you what, I'll buy these for you as a Christmas present! I know it's not Christmas time yet, but think of it as last year's Christmas gift that I'm giving you only now, ve~!"

You laugh, and so do the store attendants.

"Ve? What's so funny? I really do want to buy it for you though.."

You decide to let him, just this once.

"Oh yay! Hehe~! I'll just have them wrap this up first. I promise that I'll only buy you the coat after this, okay?"

..

"Good~! Let me go pay for these then~"

* * *

After buying the dress and belt, you and Italy walk out of the store.

"Hmm~ Where to next. I don't usually look for coats you see, it's nice and warm here in Italy..."

..

"Mm. Yup. Me and Fratello have our uniforms tailored too, so there isn't a whole lot of need to go out and look for office-y clothing.."

..

"Vee. Hmm. Oh, I have an idea! I'll ask Fratello!"

Italy whips out his cell phone, one of those new models that you hadn't even known was actually out yet, and calls his brother, the feisty Italy Romano.

"Hello, Fratello?"

"**Oi, you bastard! What the hell are you doing calling me all of a sudden?**"

"V-Ve? Fratello?"

Italy nearly dropped his phone.

"**Stupid brother! No sense of timing as always! Sheesh!**"

Italy tried vainly to reply. Your sense of duty kicks in, and you decide to take charge.

..

"Huh? Who's this?" Romano's temper seemed to settle down for a bit.

..

"Oh, you're that girl he's been talking about all week. Shopping, aren't you? Why the hell is he calling me..?"

You calmly explain the situation to him.

"That sounds so like him. Well, if you want nice attire that isn't too expensive, you could try.."

Romano gives you the names of several stores, some of which you'd heard of in the past.

..

"You should be good with those. They haven't failed me. Well, not recently at least. Are you sure you don't want something nice from Dior..?"

..

"Fine then. At least you'll look decent enough."

You remember to ask Romano why he was so mad when Veneziano called him.

"Oh, that. Well. Um. It takes... uh.. Well it takes ages. To get Spain in.. Um. The right mood. He forgets otherwise. Stupid happy smiley wonderful bastard.."

Romano sounded flustered. You try to suppress a light giggle.

"A-anyway, I'm going to get right back to him after I hang up. Make sure my brother doesn't slip up too much okay?"

..

"Right then. Give the phone back to my brother, will you?"

You hand the phone back to Italy, who seemed to have calmed down.

"F-Fratello?"

Italy held a worried expression.

"Yes! Yes! I'm sorry.. Yes. I'll get some tomatoes for you on the way back! Yes! Okay! Bye, brother, have fun with Spain! ...brother? Brother?"

Italy looked at his phone.

"He hung up.. Vee. Oh! Did you ask him about the stores?"

You tell Italy the names of the stores.

"Ah! I know those! One of them isn't too far from here. Let's go!"

* * *

Once more, Italy leads you through the confusing streets. You stop at a very professional looking store with the store name in gold lettering outside.

"I think I was here a few years back when I was looking for a present for Germany.. Let's have a look, shall we?"

You and Italy enter the store, where you were cordially greeted by the staff. The place seemed to have a different aura than the store earlier.

"Let's go look for your coat, shall we? The store's kinda big.. Let's split up! Meet back here in a few minutes, okay?"

The two of you split up. You soon find a good looking navy blue blazer, and a very black coat with silver buttons. Italy is nowhere to be seen at the designated meeting spot..

You soon find him near a coat rack, choosing between a mocha colored button-up and a white blazer.

"Ah! Oh, did I take too long? I'm sorry.. I was having trouble with these two. The mocha one is such a nice color, but this white one has GREAT stitches.."

..

"Yeah, I thought so too.. Mm. Before we make any decisions, you should try them on first!"

Italy approaches the store staff and asks for the two coats in your size.

"What did you pick out? Oh! That black one looks very nice! But I think that blue one would show your figure off much better."

..

"Really? Try the black one on first then. Look, there's a mirror here~!"

Italy helps you put the black coat on first. It feels very snug and warm on you, but not too warm.

"How is it? The buttons really make this piece shine huh.. Ve.. This is the sort of thing Fratello likes."

Italy gives you an appraising look.

"Try the blue one on next!"

You carefully remove the black coat and put on the blue blazer.

"That looks great! I really like how the lining of the collar defines your curves~ You look really professional in that! I'll bet if Germany saw you he'd fall right for you!"

..

"Ah, I see.. Mm. I like Germany quite a lot, I guess.. Do you think he likes me back? He's really nice to me all the time.."

The store attendant returns with the mocha and white jackets.

"Oh, here they are! Thank you for bringing them~"

"Try on the mocha one next!"

The mocha coat looks more like a winter coat on you than it does an office coat. You could move around pretty well in it, and it felt nice and comfy.

"Hmm.. That would work if you went to Russia I think. How does it feel?"

..

"Warm, huh? Maybe it's just the weather here. Ve.. Try the white one on!"

The white one had a very thin fabric compared to the mocha one, and it had a much sharper cut. You looked like a navy officer.

"Ooh~! You look like Japan in that! He would like that a lot!"

..

"Mm. It gets really hot at Japan's place, you know? But it gets really cold too. Have you ever been in a snowing country?"

..

"Mm. I have, just a couple of times. I don't like the cold a whole lot.. But as long as Germany's with me, it should be okay, right?"

..

Italy looks up at you hopefully. You give him a reassuring pat on the back.

"Thank you.. You're so kind. Ve~"

"Have you picked which jacket you wanted?"

..

"That one, huh? Mm! I think it was the best one too! Let's go get it wrapped~"

You notice that Italy looks particularly happy now.

"Hm? What is it?"

You thank Italy for buying you such nice clothes!

"Oh, it was nothing~ Really, it was! I was really happy I could spend time with you~ It's fun making friends, isn't it?"

..

The two of you walk out of the store with your new jacket!

"Hehe.. I hope we can go out like this again in the future! It would be great if we could all go out and have fun like this.. You, me, Germany, Japan, Fratello, Spain.."

Italy looks very happy.

"Ve~ I think that would be very nice! They'd all love to meet you! You're such a nice person and all.. Who wouldn't want to be friends with you?"

You laugh at his words. Funny that he should be saying what you were thinking of him earlier.

Looking up, you see a confused Italy. You smile and give him a hug.

"Ve.. I'm not sure what was funny, but thank you for the hug~"

"Oh! I almost forgot!"

..

"Now that we have your jacket, we can go eat yummy pasta now! Aren't you hungry? Come on! One of my favorite resturants is a few blocks from here!"

Italy takes your hand as the two of you walk off into the distance.

~End~

* * *

How was it? Ehehe. ^.^

You pick whichever jacket he gets you.

More shopping with Hetalia to come~!

Thank you for reading~


	2. Italia Romano

Got bored waiting for the 2 day upload downtime~

This one's kinda long. I think I might have drabbled in some parts.

So here's the second chapter~!

* * *

**Shopping With Hetalia**

**Chapter 2 – Italia Romano**

The world conference in Italy had been quite the show. America and England had been the main source of entertainment as usual. You were there too, taking notes, and happily chatting to Italy Veneziano in between speeches.

It wasn't until the end of the meeting that you actually absorbed any information. The moment France had been chased out of the room by a very angry Switzerland, Germany let out a very long sigh and dismissed the nations.

The first thing you understood while you were reviewing your notes was that the next meeting was to be held in Germany, in about four days. What was it with the frequent meetings recently..?

The second thing was that there was going to be a formal dinner right after the meeting, in which the nations and other important dignitaries were supposed to attend.

You then realized that you didn't have any formal clothing aside from the jacket Veneziano had bought you earlier. It would take too much time and money for you to go all the way back to your homeland and find one of your own dresses, then hop onto the next plane to Berlin. Maybe it would be cheaper to get a dress here..? Besides, all your dresses sucked.

You decide to ask Italy if you could go shopping with him, but for a fancy dress this time.

"Eh? Oh, I really would love to.. But I can't.. I have to take care of some matters related to the conference earlier.."

Italy gave you a sad look.

"Ve.. I'm really sorry.. But I think I know who could help you look for one though!"

His face brightened with the idea.

"Fratello could help you! He gave us the name of the store we bought your jacket in, right? Well then I'm sure he'd know just where to find a dress for you!"

"He's always been the better of the two of us when it comes to these things.."

"Oh, let me ask him first!"

Italy shot off like a rocket to wherever it was his brother Romano was. After organizing your things and placing them very orderly in your briefcase, a very peppy Veneziano returned with a very reluctant looking Romano.

"So this is the girl you were running around with earlier, huh?"

Romano gave her an appraising look.

"Mm! She's really nice, ve~ But she needs help finding a dress for Germany's party at the next conference, and I'm busy with something.."

"Let me guess, you want me to find something for her?"

"V-ve.."

"You DO know I was planning to go out with Spain tomorrow?"

"Please, Fratello, help us out, she's a really nice person.. And she was really nice to me, and she promised to lend me her meeting notes after she finished making copies.."

Romano gives him an exasperated look.

"All right, all right. Let me go tell Spain then-"

"Thank you, Fratello~!"

Veneziano ran headlong into his older brother and gave him a big hug.

"What the-"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you~!"

"**Enough with the hugging, what the hell is wrong with you, idiot Fratello!**"

Romano squirmed and tried to pry Veneziano off of him. You could see that he didn't seem to want to actually hurt his brother, but he forced him off all the same.

"Ve.."

Veneziano looked close to tears.

"You have work to do, right? Go take care of it. I'll handle this one. Got it?"

Romano gave his brother a firm pat on the head.

"Mm! I promise I'll work hard, Fratello!"

Romano blushed, his cheeks turning red.

"I'm only being like this to you because you brought home so many tomatoes. Be grateful that your brother is making an effort to help you!"

"Hehe~! I love you too, Fratello!"

After much cursing and chasing Italy Veneziano around the meeting room, Romano finally ended up collapsing on a chair and panting for breath.

"Really, Fratello, you should start getting exercise.. Do you want to come with me to Germany's drills in the morning? They could really help.."

Romano took a deep breath.

"**Shut up! Why should I have to wake up in the morning for you and your potato bastard friend, huh?**"

"VEEE!"

Italy let out a shriek, sending him running from the room.

Romano breathed deeply.

"Sheesh, my brother. He hasn't grown up one bit since we reformed."

..

"Oh, right. I haven't properly introduced myself yet. My name is Italy Romano. I'm the southern part of Italy, occupied by Spain. In case my stupid Fratello probably forgot to tell you, he's northern Italy, and he was conquered by Austria.."

..

"Eh. Right. I must be boring you with this info. Anyway. Since you did a pretty good job of helping my brother out, I'll help you buy your dress. Maybe if you're lucky and if I'm in a good mood, I'll buy you a couple of accessories to boot."

Buy you? Accessories?

"What? You must be kidding. Yes, I meant it when I said that I'll buy them. For you. I know most of the designers, and they give me stuff for free a lot, so it's not like I don't have spending money. I have a ton in.. Investments. Anyway, I'm doing this because he asked me to."

..

"Veneziano trusts you. He trusts the potato bastard too, but Germany's done a good job protecting him from harm. When he got home the other day, you should have seen the look on his face. It was like he won a pasta lottery or something. For that, I'll treat you to a nice bag. Or two. A pair of earrings. Some gems. You can't have a dress without accessories."

..

"Don't give me that. I know you're not exactly loaded. This is gonna be best for all of us, believe me. You've just started out, right? Think of it this way. You pay me back for this one day. Not in cash, but in deeds. You're lucky that I'm even thinking about doing this. Got that?"

You choose to remember at this moment that Romano has ties with the Italian mafia, and simply nod your head.

"Good. That's what friends and family are for. They're not too easy to come by, these days.."

"Enough about the details. Do you have any kind of dress in mind? Any particular designer?"

You remember passing a few stores with attractive-looking dresses during your shopping trip with Veneziano.

..

"Hm. Not bad. A good enough start. Fratello Romano's gonna fix you up real nice and good. That'll show that wurst bastard.."

..

"I think you'd look good in Versace. Never mind what my stupid brother thinks, if it's fashion, I'm the go-to guy. Now meet me tomorrow at.." 

* * *

You agree to meet Romano in the middle of one of Italy's most fashionable districts. There were people everywhere in various states of dress, and you could see a large group of Asian tourists who were taking pictures of everything. You were wearing the summer dress that Italy Veneziano had bought you a few days before. It was just before lunch time, and you were getting hungry.

"Oi! There you are. Just in time."

Romano checked his watch. Today he was wearing a dark cashmere shirt with sharp khaki pants and black leather shoes.

"Maybe we should have lunch first? Oh, right. I forgot to cancel the reservation at that restaurant.."

Huh? Reservation?

"I was planning to go out with Spain earlier, right? We were gonna have lunch at.."

He gives the name of an Italian restaurant you've never heard of.

"Well at least we've got a place to eat. Not too far from our first destination too. Follow me."

Romano disppeared into the crowd, and you quickly ran after him.

* * *

Somehow, the pasta you ordered was yummier than the pasta you had eaten with Veneziano!

..

"Good, huh? This place is one of my favorites. Spain and I found it about a decade or two ago. What's with that look?"

..

"Hmph. My brother will eat anything as long as it tastes good to him. This place uses only the freshest, finest ingredients. Everyone knows that the ingredients make the dish, no matter how good a cook is! Well, except when it's England maybe. Do you know what his food is even like?"

..

"Seriously, I have no idea how he even manages to screw up on something as simple as a fried egg. I'm surprised he hasn't died from some stomach blockage or something."

..

"Yeah. I mean, what is fine dining to them? Steak. Effing steak. Meat put on a grill. The dish requires no skill whatsoever, and it's BLAND. Yeah, they eat it with worch.. wochesto.. wurstor.. STEAK SAUCE. They put it on EVERYTHING. Lazy bastards with no taste. Italian cooking is so much better."

You somehow want to agree, seeing as the pasta you ordered was so delicious. And from an inconspicuous street restaurant at that.

"And would you believe that brother of his, is he his brother? Something like that. Anyway, AMERICA. His hamburgers are God awful. Even with tomatoes. Those stupid hamburgers are a waste of tomatoes I tell you! Ruined by all that grease!"

Romano slurps up the rest of his pasta. It's a wonder how he manages to keep his shirt clean.

"You done yet? I'll wait for you if I have to."

Romano waves a ruby red credit card at one of the waiters, who indiscreetly took it. Romano then took out his phone (the same model as Veneziano's but somehow shinier) and began jabbing at it furiously.

..

"See this? It's a map. I can see the locations of the stores we're going to visit.. This phone is pretty useful."

Romano looks at his phone thoughtfully.

"Shame it doesn't come in a different color though. Oi, let's go."

You hastily wipe your mouth with a napkin, and stand up to follow him.

* * *

"Fisrt stop! Versace. Beautiful dresses here. This is a good place to start.."

The staff welcome you, and they all seem to know Romano.

"Get me some of your best dresses in her size. Scratch that, get me all of them."

He gestures to the manager, and he disappears into a side room.

..

"You're trying all of them on. Why? Because I'm trying to figure out what'll look good on you. Dresses have certain styles, but you've gotta have the perfect fabric and cut as well. So we experiment. Ah, here comes the manager."

The manager returns with one of those wheeled clothing racks, full of dresses. You see about fifteen..

Romano scans the rack.

"This one-" He picks up a stunning blue one. "This one, this one, this one."

He picks up several more dresses in a flash.

"Not that one. That one." Romano skips several dresses and ends up choosing seven.

"All right, try each one of these on."

He thrusts the armful of dresses at you.

"Oh. Right. One of you-" He gestures to some of the female store staff. "-assist her."

"Yes, Mr. Vargas!"

The girls snapped to attention, and you were ushered into a fitting room.

You try on a white dress with some sort of fabric that seemed to glitter in the light.

"Hmm. No. Too wedding. Next dress!"

You try on a black one that changed into shades blue as you moved around.

"Too Academy Awards. Something more subtle, perhaps.."

The staff seemed to be responding to Romano's comments, and promptly gave you a different dress, this time a red one with a sequined bodice.

"Too flashy."

Romano waved his hand.

"The pearl one."

You tried on a creamy silk dress that looked like you were wearing milk.

"Hmm. Good. The shoulder is a bit off, but good."

Romano stood up.

"Put on your clothes, we're going to the next store."

Huh?

"You heard me."

Romano whipped out his phone to look for the next boutique to visit.

..

"Yeah, the dresses are good, but I want better. Something MUCH better. Something that will fit you perfectly. It's Italian pride."

Despite the fact that Romano didn't want to get any of the dresses, he selected a pair of silver teardrop earrings, and almost threw his red credit card at the manager in his haste.

The next store the two of you went to was Armani.

"These guys are know for being sharp. Their suits are impeccable. Their dresses are a little tricky to carry out well though."

Once more the store staff immediately attended to you. Romano looked very smug.

You tried on a midnight blue dress with a flowing mermaid-style hem.

"Fabric yes, style no. Try-" He selected a grey dress with white accents. "-this one."

You find the grey dress a bit tight around the waist.

..

"Tight huh? You can still breathe, right? It's an evening dress, you're not supposed to be able to do gymnastics in it."

Romano spoke with a deadpan face.

"Looks like Armani's no good either."

Before you left however, Romano ended up buying a pair of round cuff links inset with red stones.

"Spain will love these."

He smirked.

"Next should be.. Let's go to Zara. It's not where I usually shop, but these should be interesting."

Zara was huge. There were fancy shoes and clothes and bags everywhere.

"The advantage of stores like these is that there's more than one designer. There's usually a wide range of clothing here. Remember the blue dress at Armani and the pearl one at Versace? If you can find something like those, come look for me so we can fit them. I'll look over here."

You find a white backless dress and a dark blue sleeveless dress with ruffles. Along the way, you notice that even though Zara is supposed to be in the middle ground of expensive classy and cheap casual, the clothes seem to be quite expensive, and not too far from the prices of the Armani dresses. Italians, you mutter.

You find Romano holding about six dresses. Romano looks at the dresses you hold and immediately shakes his head.

"Those are horrible. Drop those. Now hold still.."

Romano checks each dress against your figure, and casually discards the rejects. The only dress he is still holding is a blue sleeveless one with sequined zigzags reaching the hem.

"Try this one on."

You find the dress both easy to move in, and stylish.

Romano gives you an approving look.

"**Buono**. THAT is what I was looking for! Now you'll need a purse, and some shoes, and maybe a nice choker. I've already got you earrings. Now go get that wrapped up, and we'll go to my favorite boutique."

* * *

"Here we are. Gucci!"

Your eyes went wide at the sight of so many expensive bags.

"Looks like they've got some new stock. What's your shoe size? This pair should look pretty good with your dress."

Romano holds up a pair of strappy stiletto slingbacks with aquamarine crystals artfully sewn to the fabric. You try them on, and find that despite the height, they weren't that hard to stand in.

"Hmm. Are you okay with the heels? Walk around the store once and see."

You do a very careful circuit around the boutique, and return to find Romano with a fancy blue clutch bag in hand.

"How are the shoes? This bag will definitely work with those. Gucci is just that good."

You begin to wonder how much everything was going to cost, as Romano handed his credit card to the staff.

..

"I told you not to worry about it, remember? Besides, we've already gotten this far. And I really want to see that potato bastard's jaw drop when he sees you. If not him, then that French maniac."

You suddenly have a bad feeling about France seeing you in a sexy outfit.

..

"Hm? France, hitting on you? Well he hits on everyone. If you're feeling uncomfortable about him, just do what Switzerland does... And stay the hell away from England. He's that frog's favorite target."

..

"God knows why a country like France exists. I heard from Japan that they have more strikes there than Spain has siestas. Believe me, that's a lot! I still wonder how the hell their economy is alive!"

One of the Gucci staff appears with your purchases and Romano's credit card.

"Grazie. Oi, anything else we need? You've got a dress, shoes, earrings, a purse.. I think you can take care of looking for a stylist. Or do I have to set one up for you? You'll be footing her bill of course."

You politely decline. You know someone in Germany who can take care of that. You still thank him though.

"Whatever. Don't forget this okay? If there's one thing I hate it's people who forget that they owe gratitude."

Romano takes out his cell phone, and checks the time.

"Whoa. That was surprisingly quick. Looks like I still have time to dash over to Spain's and pay him a surprise visit!"

Romano looked determined. You ask him why he and Spain get along so well.

"Ah. Um. Er. That's because.. Well. He took good care of me when I was a kid and.. Why the heck are you asking me such embarrassing questions?"

Romano blushed a deep tomato red.

..

"S-still! That's private!"

You wonder if he likes Spain.

"Like him? I.. Er."

Romano blushed an impossibly vivid shade of red. You try to stifle a giggle.

"**Meh! **I'll be going to Spain's now! Don't forget your things!**"**

Romano left the boutique in a huff, as you shout your thanks after him.

Now, to book that flight to Germany..

~End~

* * *

Romano was fun to write. It was kind tricky, picking the designers. There are so many good Italian designer brands .

Zara is something like a joint boutique that has many different lines from lesser designers, and it's much more affordable. I have plenty of clothes from Zara, but no dresses. The clothes they send to Asia are tiny T.T

This fic's inspiration is the Venetian hotel at Macau where I stayed recently with my family. I could almost imagine strolling down the halls with the Italy brothers.

Germany is next. Stay tuned!

-czieskara


	3. Germany

Thank you for the reads and reviews, everyone!

Japan got hit by that earthquake recently, I hope they're doing okay .

(=imagines Japan cold and wet shivering=)

(Me: Kiku! =hugs him worriedly=)

On a side note, I've been playing Pokemon Black recently. The grass starter is cool!

Anyway, here's Germany!

* * *

**Shopping With Hetalia**

**Chapter 3 – Germany**

Shortly after arriving in Berlin, party outfit packed safely into your travel bag, you received a call on your cell phone.

"Hello? It's me, Italy Veneziano!"

..

"Ah, I'm doing fine~ How was your flight? I heard you and Fratello bought some nice stuff~"

..

"Ve.. Really? I wouldn't have thought to go there to buy the dress! That's my brother for you~"

..

"Mm. Ah! I forgot! The reason why I called you is that Japan's in a bit of trouble right now, and I'm helping him get back on his feet! But that means I can't go with Germany on his errands, plus he has to run the world conference.."

Germany? Errands?

..

"Oh, I just started tagging along with Germany on his errands one day. We've been doing it ever since before conferences here! I don't know where Prussia is, he's not answering his phone, and Fratello doesn't want to go anywhere near Germany, and Austria is nagging me again, and Hungary's run off somewhere.."

Italy sounded very frantic. You agree to accompany Germany on his errands. Besides, you didn't really have anything to do until the meeting, which was in two days' time.

..

"You will? Yay! Thank you so much! I knew I could count on you!"

You reply happily. After your shopping spree in Italy, you were pretty sure that you wanted to repay both brothers somehow.

..

"Hehe~ You're such a nice person. I'm really glad I made friends with you! Ve.. This is your first time in Berlin, right? You might get lost, like I did! Oh, I'll tell Germany to come pick you up tomorrow! Where are you staying?"

You give Italy the address of the hotel you were staying in.

"Okay. I'll give your number to Germany as well so he can call you if anything comes up!"

You suddenly worry about having to spend the day with Germany. The country hadn't given off a good image based on the history books. Then again, he was Italy's good friend, so he should be pretty nice himself, right?

You then remember how Germany acts like in meetings. He talks like a drill sergeant, and seems to bark at people constantly. It was an effective strategy to keep boisterous countries like America and France in their places. But it was still a bit scary. The kind of scary that Switzerland is when he's polishing his guns. Or France when he looks at England.

Maybe not France scary. But Germany..

..

"Eh? Germany isn't scary! Well, sure, he can be really scary sometimes, but he's a really good person who looks out for me all the time, and ties my shoe laces, and lets me sleep with him and makes me feel safe when it's stormy at night and I'm scared.."

Sleep? With Italy?

Suddenly Germany didn't seem so bad.

"Ve? It's settled then! I'll ask him to call you about the details again. Thanks again for the favor! Grazie!"

You end the call, wondering what sort of errands someone like Germany would need to see to.

* * *

You arrange to have Germany pick you up some time after lunch. You decide to wander around the hotel lobby for a bit. German building sure were simple..

Your phone started ringing.

"Hello? This is Germany."

You nearly drop it, startled. Germany's commanding voice surprised you.

..

"Yes. I've just arrived. Are you done with your preparations?"

..

"Very well. I will be waiting right outside the hotel. Don't tarry."

You nervously look around the entrance, and see the man in question. He couldn't be called anything other than a man, with his height and muscle. Germany was wearing a simple grey shirt under a beautiful brown suede jacket, with dark jeans and sharp leather shoes.

He was standing next to a very cool-looking sports car. Germany soon spots you, and calls you over.

"Guten Tag. I hope Italy didn't inconvenience you by asking you to come with me."

..

"Hm. Is that so? Well, we'll be visiting a few shops around the city. I hope you're prepared."

Prepared? Are we going out to war or something?

"We don't want to waste time. Hop in."

Germany goes around to the passenger side and opens the door for you. You get in and buckle up your seat belt.

The two of you are soon cruising the Autobahn. You decide that cars are a good a topic as any to talk to a German about, so you ask about the famous highway.

Germany's expression relaxes. Just a bit.

"The Autobahn? It's our very famous highway. The entire length is covered by a system of high tech security cameras to oversee traffic. There isn't a definite speed limit as well."

No speed limit? You instantly look at the dashboard to check how fast you are going.

"Don't worry. I have been driving since cars were invented. I'm not like my brother who drives as if he is riding a chariot."

Germany chuckles lightly.

"The reason why there isn't only one constistent speed limit is actually to prevent collisions. The limit on the autobahn changes with the traffic. Odd that other countries impose an all-purpose limit to perform the very same function. We here in Germany are proud of our machines and like to see them performing at the capacity they were designed for."

..

"You like the car? It's an Audi R8. It's one of the finest cars made in the country. I like this car for its smooth handling. You can barely hear the engine, and we are doing well over a hundred! My brother, as I have mentioned before, loves speedy cars and drives a Porche. I prefer BMWs myself, but a good car is a good car."

You notice that Germany looks a little happier than usual. You smile. It seems that the Germany that Italy talks about frequently really was a nice guy.

Germany exits the Autobahn. You soon find yourself in a bustling metropolitan area. The city looked like any other, but you noticed that everyone on the street seemed to be in a hurry. It was a stark contrast to the easygoing aura that Italy had.

"Our first stop is close by. I will be picking up a watch of mine that I had adjusted."

You are curious as to what sort of watch Germany would use.

..

"My watch? I use different watches for various occasions. The one I had adjusted is a Breitling Skyracer Raven."

Germany pulls up a small but regal looking watch boutique.

"Would you like to come inside, or would you rather wait out here?"

You decide to come with him.

..

"Hn. I suppose it would be more appropriate.."

Germany walks to the passenger side and opens the door for you. The two of you walk to the store entrance. Germany holds the door open for you as you enter.

The watch store seemed pretty old, but well-maintained. A wise spectacled old man in a shirt and vest greeted you at the foyer.

"Ah, Herr Ludwig."

Ludwig? You remember that each country had a certain human name that they used in the company of normal people.

He bowed gracefully.

"And who is this? Welcome, madam! May I have your name, fraulein?"

You quickly give him your name.

..

"Ah, a name befitting for a fine young lady such as yourself! Please, call me Stein. No need for formalities. What brings you here to our humble little establishment?"

"I'll be picking up my Skyracer, Stein."

"Ah, yes, of course."

Stein gestured towards a young man in a suit, and he disappeared into a side room.

"Herr Ludwig, if I may? Your brother requested for a watch of his to be engraved, but it has long been due for pickup.."

Germany sighed.

"Gilbert... All right Stein, we will be taking that as well."

"Very good, Herr Ludwig. It will take but a moment. In the meantime, would you like to peruse our new stock?"

"Ja, bitte."

Germany nodded at me, and proceeded to look at some watches. You follow him closely. A pretty white watch catches your eye. You nearly exclaim in surprise when you saw the price tag.

"Is there anything wrong?"

Germany looks at you curiously.

..

"That's a Breitling Crosswind. It's more jewelry than it is watch.. The price? Well, it is to be expected from these prestigious brands. These watches were made to last generations."

"But of course, for someone like Herr Ludwig, a watch that withstands the test of time would be ideal."

Stein gives you a knowing wink.

"This store does not deal with the new, my dear. It deals with the old. We buy, sell and repair these fine timepieces. It matters not when they were made. Each one should function as if it were new! That is the beauty of a well-made watch."

"Well said, Stein. The watch I usually wear is a Rolex. They were the first, were they not?"

"Quite right, Herr Ludwig! Rolexes are very popular among those in the know, but the nations have always had peculiar tastes. Our Herr Ludwig for example, prefers precision above all. Master Gilbert collects timepieces from various points in history. I do believe he has just acquired an antique pocketwatch?"

"Yes, I believe he bought it as a gift for Roderich."

Roderich?

Germany whispers to you discreetly.

"Austria."

The young man from earlier returns with two watch boxes. Germany picks one up, and opens it to reveal a bold black watch with white numbers. He examines it closely.

..

"This? This is my Breitling. Do you want to get a better look at it?"

Germany hands you the box. You examine the watch. It wasn't flashy like most of the designer watches you'd seen in the store, but it had impact. It was just the sort of watch that Germany would like.

Germany opened the other box.

"Stein, this watch doesn't belong to my brother.."

"Indeed it doesn't, Herr Ludwig! Master Gilbert had it done for a friend. I believe his name was Matthew?"

"Ah. No wonder. I'd forgotten about Matthew."

Matthew?

"Canada."

Germany inspects the watch.

"Excellent work as usual, Stein."

Stein takes both watch boxes and packs them into small shopping bags. You notice Germany looking at you.

"You don't have a watch."

..

"You should have one. Shall I get you one of these?"

You politely decline. You had enough debt already!

"Are you sure? A Cartier might suit you."

Again you decline.

"All right then. I can't force you."

The two of you exit the shop and get back into the car.

* * *

"We'll be going to a mall next. Prussia wants a copy of that new game that just came out, and I have to check the prices of headphones.."

..

"My pair of headphones isn't working properly any more, so I'm going to replace them."

You wonder why he doesn't just have it fixed. Germany laughs.

"Headphones aren't made to last! They're not watches. Believe me, it's usually a better idea to look for new headphones instead of having old ones repaired. Unless they're for professional use, of course. You want to maximize the value of those."

You watch the scenery fly by out the window.

"Do you listen to music?"

The question takes you slightly aback.

"I mean, do you LISTEN..? I don't mean just casually tuning in to the radio and enjoying the music. I mean purchasing the album and listening to the songs over and over."

You have your fair share of favorite artists.

..

"Hm. Not really my style. Neither is Tokio Hotel, which is Prussia's so-called band of the century.. I do like some of the new hip hop songs on the radio, but I prefer the classics."

You have a brief mental image of Austria playing the piano.

Germany laughs.

"Not those classics, though I do appreciate those. If I had to mention a few artists that I like.. Hm. Barbara Streisand is good."

You laugh. Everyone that you know that likes Barbara Streisand grew in the 70's.

"What? She's good. Better than that prepubescent boy plastered all over record shops these days."

Germany gives you a funny look.

"Among other artists.. Frank Sinatra, and his shadow Michael Buble. The Carpenters. Michael Jackson, in his earlier days."

You nod. Some of those artists were REALLY good.

"Meanwhile, you should have seen Prussia during the days of Metallica, Kiss and Avenged Sevenfold. He even bought an electric guitar, a Gibson Flying V. You know, the white v-shaped guitar? Completely pissed off Austria of course. Never could keep quiet, my Bruder."

Although you rarely saw Prussia at meetings, you had seen enough of him that your mental profile of him agreed with Germany's description.

..

"Yes, every single radical era since the fall of the Berlin Wall he partook in. Even the Flower Power movement. It took Hungary with a scrubbing brush and a frying pan to convince him out of that idea. He is very easily carried away, but you'd expect that of him. Which is why he was such a fine leader back in the days when they were all running around converting people. But we're getting off topic."

You hadn't seen Prussia in a while.

..

"Bruder? Oh, he's staying at Canada's house for a while. He got Austria mad at him for some reason or another, hence the pocket watch as a peace offering. He should be back before the conference."

Germany drives the car into a parking lot next to a large mall.

"Are you good with large places? I usually have trouble bringing Italy to malls. Even if he's been to one more than a dozen times, he still seems to get lost.."

You notice that Germany seems to be more vocal than he was earlier. Maybe he's warming up to you? In any case, you had a good sense of direction.

"Good. Just in case though, please keep close to me."

The two of you get out of the car (with Germany opening doors for you once more) and enter the mall. It was pleasantly cool in the building, which boasted modern architecture, which essentially meant that there was glass everywhere, and the lighting was gorgeous.

"Come. HMV is upstairs."

You wonder what an HMV is.

"HMV is a retailer that sells mostly audio cd and videos. They also sell products like headphones and shirts, and more recently video game consoles and Blu-ray discs. They have a wide range of cds and albums."

You arrive at the top floor and literally see almost a quarter of the floor dedicated to HMV.

"Let's go to the games section first. Now which game did Bruder want me to buy again..? It had two versions.."

You figure out which game Prussia wanted instantly, and point it out for Germany. There was a shelf entirely for the new game, which had two versions.

"Danke. This is the correct game. However, I do not know which version he wants.. Would you happen to know?"

You think about it for a bit, and decide on the white version. You vaguely remember someone telling you it was the better version a while back.

"Are you sure? I don't think there is a huge difference between the two.. Hm. Either way, let's move on to the headphones.."

You grab a copy of the black version for yourself. The white version seemed to be selling more than the black, seeing as there were more copies of black on the shelf. You find Germany comparing an Audio Technica and a Sennheiser.

"Good timing. These two models are on sale. The Audio Technica has good noise canceling but the Sennheiser has better bass.."

You remember that Sennheisers were quite sturdy!

..

"Is that so? Hm."

Germany seemed to be taking a while to pick, so you wander over to one of those platforms with a set of headphones plugged into a cd player. One of the cds was the soundtrack for a movie you'd seen recently, and soon you found yourself with your eyes closed, tapping a foot to the beat.

A light tap on the shoulder snapped you back to reality.

"I hate to interrupt you, but I'll be paying for these now."

Germany was giving you a stern but nice smile.

"You've helped out a lot today. How about I buy you that soundtrack? You seemed to be enjoying that as well."

Without another word, he plucked a copy of the soundtrack from the shelf and briskly strode to the counter. Gaaah!

Chasing after him, you found that you were too late. He'd bought it! Germany had a very smug expression. He hands you the cd.

"Here. You deserve it. Good choice, by the way. This is a good soundtrack."

You pout as you pay for your game. Silly Germany. You remember that he IS Prussia's brother after all. It was nice of him though.

"Mm? You got a copy of that game as well?"

..

"I see. That game sure has become popular. I wasn't so sure when the first few came out."

The two of you leave HMV, purchases in hand.

..

"Hm? Ah, yes. The last errand for today is something I would like you to keep a secret from Italy."

Germany gave you a trusting look.

"It will be Italy's birthday in a few days. Romano's as well. That's what the party after the conference is for, actually. I'm still wondering what he would like as a gift.. Would you have any ideas? Last year I got him a cookbook. He seemed quite pleased to receive it, but.."

Who gets people cookbooks on their birthday? You chuckle.

"What's so funny? It had a lot of fusion recipes involving pasta, I thought he would like it."

..

"I suppose you're right, if it's pasta, he'd know everything about it.. Have you seen him cook? He doesn't even use measuring tools anymore, he just tosses the ingredients around and somehow manages to make delicious food without destroying the kitchen.."

You think about it for a bit.

..

"Eh? Buy myself clothes? I don't understand, how would that be a present for him.."

You explain. The idea was that Italy liked seeing people in fancy clothing..

"I have several tailored suits for such occasions."

Germany looked stubborn. You ask him what year the suits were made.

"..in the 1980's."

Clothes aren't watches, no matter how well-made they are! Even if Austria IS an expert at making clothes stretch longer than their usual life span.

"Well, you're right there.. But what clothes do you have in mind? And I still want to get him something. I'm sure he has a lot of clothes."

You then got an idea. You remembered the pretty watch you'd seen in the watch boutique.

"The Crosswind? For Italy?"

You nod vigorously.

"That's a very good idea if you ask me. Let's pick up the watch on the way back to your hotel, and I'll see what I can do about my attire for the party. Deal?"

Deal! You shake Germany's hand.

"Italy was right. You are a big help."

Germany beamed at you proudly.

Germany pulls over in front of the hotel.

"Vielen Dank. This was a very productive day for me, more so than usual. Well, I usually go on errands with Italy, so that might have something to do with it.."

You remind him about the clothes.

"Yes, yes. I won't forget. I'll ask Austria to help.

No. Just no.

..

"Eh? Why not? Should I ask Bruder instead?"

Yes! Prussia would be better than Austria!

"I don't know, he has been crazier than usual lately.."

..

"Are you sure I can't just wear my uniform?"

NO. You scold him.

"All right all right! If you insist. You sound like Romano."

Germany frowned. It was kind of cute, actually. You stare at him for a second, then laugh.

"What is so funny?"

..

"I don't really understand.."

"Either way, thank you for assisting me today. If you need anything here at any time, don't hesitate to give me a call, all right?"

You nod.

"Good. Stay safe now. I'll be seeing you at the conference."

You get out of the car and close the door. Germany gives you a final nod before revving the engine and driving off. You wave at him until he is out of sight.

You breathe deeply. Who knew that Germany could be so nice?

..

Then you realize something.

..

It was the Italy brothers' birthday tomorrow and you hadn't gotten a present for either of them!

You were beginning to wonder where you could order a barrel of tomatoes from them when you receive a call..

~End~

* * *

Germany was a bit hard to write. There aren't any things that are very German around here that I could use for reference items, except for wurst. And I wanted to avoid that!

The next chapter will be a bit late, stupid exams. The Italy brothers' birthday party awaits! Along with a certain summer country that enjoys tomatos ;)

Thanks for reading!

-czieskara


	4. Spain

Aaargh. The 5th generation pokemon all take way too long to evolve!

Been listening to various remixes of U.N. Owen Was Her? I like the k-waves remix~

Enough about me. On to Spain and the Italy kyoudai birthday party~ which is, like, totally late~ but what the hell.

* * *

**Shopping With Hetalia**

**Chapter 4 – Spain **

Through some interesting turn of events, you find yourself waiting for a certain Spaniard on the morning of the world conference.

"_Hello? Hi! Um, I don't think we've ever spoken before, but is this..?"_

_.._

"_Phew! I thought I'd dialed the wrong number! Anyway, this is Spain. I sort of got your number from Romano. You see, I'm in a little pinch.."_

_.._

"_You see, it's Feli and Lovi's birthday tomorrow, and I haven't gotten a present for them yet, I was wondering if you- Eh? You don't have one either? Wow! Looks like I wasn't the only one!"_

_You were glad that you'd remembered to ask Germany about the rest of the countries' human names. Spain laughs cheerfully._

"_You were just out with Germany, right? I'll bet he's already gotten Feli a present. Hope it's not a cook book this time!"_

_.._

"_Oh? A watch? Feli would love one, he's always running late for meetings! But Lovi usually buys that sort of thing regularly so it's not really something he'd want as a present.."_

_The two of you discuss options for a little while._

"_Ne, I think I have a good idea of what I want to get those two~ But I'm still not sure what exactly, all I've got is an idea, you see~"_

_.._

"_You too, huh? Hm. Ah, I know! Why don't we meet up first thing in the morning tomorrow and see what we can find in town? I'm sure we can find things that they'd both love!"_

_.._

"_Mm! It's settled then! Which hotel are you staying at? Whoa, that's pretty close to the conference building! Tell you what, meet me at the square with the fountain in the middle, it's right across the street from the building."_

_You know the place. You'd passed it twice with Germany earlier._

"_Yosh! We're good to go then! See you tomorrow!"_

So there you were, waiting right next to the fountain. The building in which this world conference was held was one of those large old buildings that were meticulously maintained, with 18th century architecture. There were pigeons all over the place, and you lazily watched a pair of kids feeding them breadcrumbs.

Spain had sounded wonderfully nice. You could hardly believe that there was someone who could be so charming over the phone. So this was the famous Spain! True, you had seen him at meetings, but he usually kept to himself, or was sleeping, or hugging Romano, or talking to Prussia or France. But he was usually hugging Romano. In any case, this was the first time both of you had paid direct attention to each other.

You remember how much Romano blushed when you teased him about Spain. Yeah, he was charming, but what exactly about him manaed to subdue Romano..?

"Ola! Buenos dias!"

You see Spain himself running toward you. He was wearing a loose white button-up shirt that clearly had been put on in a hurry, a beautifully fitting pair of red corduroy pants and a pair of leather loafers. You could see hints of tight muscle under the white fabric. His skin was gorgeous..

"Sorry I'm late! Did I keep you waiting for too long?"

Spain looked at you with bright green eyes the color of.. Grass? Emeralds? They were really pretty..

"It took me a while to shake off Romano.. Silly little thing. Wants me to get off him all the time, but he's all clingy in the morning! So cute~"

His curls were a wonderful chocolate color, bouncing with every movement Spain made. And the way he smiled..

No wonder Romano wouldn't let go of him. Spain could probably make a brick wall fall in love with him without trying! You took a deep breath and laughed.

"Hm? What's up? Why are you laughing?"

..

"Eh? A brick wall? Well I do appreciate the compliments~"

Spain smiled at you.

"Ah, I haven't properly introduced myself to you yet! I'm Spain! My other name's Antonio Fernandez Carriedo. I encourage people to call me by my human name, though not a lot of people do."

Quite unexpectedly, he hugged you.

"I didn't get your full name though.."

You introduce yourself. Spain grins.

"Nice to finally meet you! Feli talks about you a lot."

Eh? Really?

"Mm! Not as much as he talks about Germany, but he does~ You're a very nice person, he says. I think he's right! You're very cute too~"

Spain seemed to radiate an aura that you weren't quite sure about. Was he flirting, or was he really like this all the time?

"Well then, what do you think we should start looking for? I'm pretty sure we can cross clothes off the list! They have plenty of those!"

..

"That might work, but I'm not too sure about those. Should we get them manga? You'd be surprised at the amount Lovi reads! He's got a whole walk-in closet for his comics!"

..

"Hmm.. Yeah, they might actually have those already.. Ne, let's take a walk! That might help!"

The two of you started walking. Spain smiles at the kids feeding the pigeons. One of them smiles right back, as the other turns bright red and hides behind a tree.

Spain laughs.

"That's just like Lovi~! Really! Those two were the cutest little kids ever!"

..

"Ah, I meant the Italy brothers. Remember that they were colonized separately? At first, I thought little Romano would be wonderful to have, I mean, he's just so cute! But he got me into a lot of trouble more than once! And for some reason he kept refusing to do chores."

Spain pouted as you rounded the corner.

"Little Feliciano was a dear angel compared to him! Of course, when Romano heard, he promptly threw a bucket of water at me and refused to come out of his room for four hours straigt.. It took more than a little bit of coaxing to get him out. But the look on his face was so sad.."

The two of you stop at an intersection.

"Turns out he'd just been so lonely after being separated from his family. At that moment I decided that I'd be his new family, so I hugged and hugged and hugged him until he stopped crying and went back to his old self again! I think the scratch marks are still there.."

Spain instinctively rubbed his neck.

"But look at him now~ He's still quite the stubborn tomato he was when he was little. I think it's gotten a little easier to push his buttons nowadays though~"

You remember how fun it was to tease Romano.

"He likes you too, you know? In his own way! The day after the two of you went shopping, he was talking about how hard it was to find you a dress. You have an interesting figure it seems. The sort that designers have trouble capturing. Whatever that means~"

..

"I dunno, Romano usually doesn't talk a lot.. But when he does, it usually means he's angry or happy about something!"

Spain smiled happily. He had so much sunshine in his eyes, it was almost annoying.

"Hm? Oh, this shop is cute! Shall we go in and see what they have for sale?"

Spain stops in front of a store selling various cute objects. You peer through the window and see things like plastic Shinatty plates and kiddy cutlery, pink wallets and penguin magnets. It was the sort of store that little girls loved playing in. Somehow you wonder what a shop like this is doing in Germany.

"Looks like they have a good variety. Maybe we can find something here~!"

* * *

You and Spain entered the store, where you were greeted by kind (but big!) store attendants all wearing Shinatty aprons.

"Hi! I'm looking for a gift for my friend!"

Spain started chatting with one of the attendants. You decide to leave him there and wander around, your eyes darting from shelf to shelf.

The first thing you see are some Shinatty-chan sandwich shapers. You press it onto a sandwich like a cookie cutter and it uts the sandwich into the shape of Shinatty's face. Cute, but not the perfect gift..

You then pass a rack with nice phone straps. One of them is red and white with a little tomato bell dangling from it. You didn't really think that it was the ideal gift for either Italy brother though..

Passing a set of lucky charms and various German souvenirs, you find yourself in what appeared to be a crafts section. Shot glasses and beer glasses with various designs occupied an entire shelf. Under that were sets of bangles with Celtic designs..

Something shiny catches your eye. You take a closer look and find that it is a music box! The box is black with white rabbits and gold stars painted on the top. An attendant notices your plight and decides to step in.

"Those are our special music boxes. You can actually have one custom-made here! We make each one by hand, including the box design."

You ask how long it took them to make one music box.

"It depends on the tune. If you want a simple little melody, we can have it ready later this afternoon, if you'd like! You can even choose the design of the box!"

Spain and his attendant arrive at your shelf.

"Oh, what's that? A music box? Ooh~"

Spain picks up a green music box with light blue leaves and flowers painted on the sides. He opens it and hears a cute, soothing melody.

"Mm.. Brings back memories. They're very well-made! How much are these?"

The attendant shows the two of you a price guide for the boxes. Surprisingly, they weren't that expensive, but you had a budget to stick to. And you needed two presents..

"These seem pretty good! I know for a fact that Lovi doesn't have any of these in his house. You've got a good eye!"

Spain beamed at you happily.

..

"Hm? The melody? Right.. Would the national anthem be appropriate for those two..?"

..

"Now that I think about it, that was kinda stupid of me to suggest.."

Spain shrugs. The shopkeepers were obviously trying to keep straight faces, but it was pretty clear that Spain's cheery personality was rubbing off of them.

"Something nice.. The birthday song? A nursery rhyme?"

Why all the suggestions aimed at children..?

You think for a bit and have the answer.

..

"Oh! Maru Kaite Chikyuu! That's good!"

Spain claps his hands in delight.

"But Lovi doesn't have a Maru Kaite, he was feeling too annoyed at the time.. Will Hatafutte Parade work?"

..

You didn't really think that Hatafutte was a song Romano specifically would like. Spain was pouting.

You remember that Romano had a festival song that was widely known to be his favorite.

"Buono Tomato! That's perfect! Why didn't I think of that..? You're really good at this, aren't you? No wonder Romano likes you so much!"

You slightly blush at the compliments.

"Hmm. Since you found the gifts, you should be the one to give it to them!"

Spain was eagerly waiting for your reply. You awkwardly explain to him that you had some financial issues..

"Eh? Is that so.. Well I can't blame you, I've been through some tough times myself recently. But the gifts seem really good though! Guess I'll be the one to get them, huh? I'll tell them it was your idea though! You deserve all the credit!"

Spain approached the store attendants and explained what he wanted for the music boxes. Being German of course, they set straight to work immediately and asked the two of you to come by later in the afternoon. Spain hands them a red credit card mysteriously identical to Romano's.

Meanwhile, to search for something a tad bit cheaper..

"Hmm. What would they really like.."

You and Spain exited the shop, pondering.

"They've both got new cell phones.. I don't think they'd want anything too technology-savvy. Hmm. I don't think they want toys either. Feli might though.."

..

"Oh! Not that little Romano wouldn't like them, it's just that he'd probably deny liking them in front of everybody, then play with them in secret. Or maybe he'll say he collects them.. France tried to get them some designer toys like those teddy bear lego thingys I think.. Bearbrick? Italy loved his, but Romano shoved his at the back of his closet.."

..

"Mm.. But I think they would appreciate something functional! Something like a tomato necktie! Wait, that's what I got Lovi for Christmas.."

The two of you pass a store that sold various kitchen products. They had the usual things like knives and chopping boards, but also had quirky things like ice cream moulds and strawberry-shaped candy bowls. Something colorful catches your eye.

"Hm? What is it?"

You point to a set of colorful character lunchboxes in the window. They were the type with dividers inside. There were Shinatty-chan ones, ones with a cute dog on it, and another with a small yellow bird. A small sign next to the lunchboxes said "Come in all shapes and sizes! See our vast selection inside!".

Would normal German people buy these..?

"Oh! Those are cute! And I remember Romano complaining that his had gotten stepped on or something.."

You wonder why on earth Romano would use a character lunchbox.

"Hehe. I got one for him a few years ago. That's a secret, okay? I didn't think he'd like them so much!"

Spain winked.

"Anyway, they seem to be on sale! What do you think?"

Spain looked at you inquisitively. You decide to give the lunchboxes a shot.

"Yay! Come on, time's a wasting!'

* * *

Spain almost drags you into the shop, where you were greeted by much nicer looking German store attendants.

"Hi, we'd like to look at the lunchboxes!"

One of them smiled at you perkily. She didn't look too German..

"Sure! Our lunchboxes are over there. Do you have a certain one in mind? I'd be happy to assist you!"

You are pretty darn sure she isn't German.

..

"We're buying two sets as gifts. Could we see the designs? They're both for boys, by the way!"

Spain added that last sentence hastily.

"Boys, huh? How old would they be?"

The attendant smiled at you curiously. The other storekeepers were nowhere near as smiley, but definitely more cheerful than the ones in the last store. Maybe it was just Spain?

"Way past puberty! Either way, let's go have a look!"

The attendant leads the two of you to a display of lunchbox designs on a nicely partitioned shelf. Each shelf had a drawer assigned to it that seemed to contain lunchboxes of the same design as the one on the shelf. There really were different sizes, and there was even one shaped mini box that looked perfect for Spam.

"Whoa! There's so many! Makes me want to buy a set for myself.. Do you want one?"

You admire a nice black set with pink cherry blossoms stenciled over the front.

The attendant gestured to a particular shelf.

"If it's young men you're getting gifts for, these should do the trick! They're surprisingly popular! We nearly ran out of these once!"

The shelf held lunchboxes with various patterns of tanks and trucks. That explains it..

"Hmm. This IS the sort of thing that Germany would like, wouldn't he?"

Spain laughed. The attendant giggled.

"Are you talking about.. them? Um, his brother bought a set recently! He got the little chick one, one with maple leaves and a full set of lunchboxes with tanks on them.."

You were now 100% sure that this girl was not only from a different country, but also in the know, like you were.

"You wouldn't be Spain by any chance would you? I knew it! I'm a good friend of Belgium's! My family have been close to her for decades!"

That explains the cheerfulness!

"Oh, but don't worry! I can keep a secret. Especially yours!"

The Belgian girl winked at Spain.

"Ahaha! So you're friends with Belle! No wonder, the two of you are both so cute!"

While Spain was flirting with the attendant, you look at different lunchboxes. There were various patterns, some of them very pretty. A matte silver lunchbox with a gothic border print catches your eye. It was very pretty and came with a small thermos that looked like it was designed to hold sauces. You could imagine Romano eating with one of these.

"Oh! I see our Italian-inspired line has caught your attention! Those are popular with women here."

The Belgian girl casually brushed Spain aside. Spain seemed surprised for half a second, but then remembered that it was a Belgian he was dealing with and shrugged it off.

You ask her if there are similar designs.

"Aw, well there used to be a gold and a bronze version, but they've long since sold out.."

..

"Oh, but there are still some left of the same series, though! Would you like to see those?"

You nod eagerly. The attendant directs you to a nearby shelf, with marble-patterened lunchboxes. Some looked like they should be pedestals of glorious Roman statues.. You particularly like a blue marble one with a gold frame design. The blue looked like it would match Italy Veneziano's uniform wonderfully.

"These also have the sauce thermos. They were designed for pasta lovers! Each also comes with a matching lunchbag that has room for all the boxes plus a can or two of beer!"

"I don't think they'll use the space for beer, but that sounds pretty good!"

Spain himself had picked out a lunchbox set that had the Spanish uniform for the World Cup as the pattern. You notice that he was holding the cherry blossom black one you were looking at earlier.

"I'm getting this for you as a thank-you gift! After helping me out today, it's the least I could do!"

You didn't really want to get used to the countries giving gifts, but..

"You're lucky~ He's pretty hot."

The attendant whispered to you mischievously. You vehemently deny having any sort of relationship with him, and Spain laughs.

"So! Will that be everything?"

You nod, and the attendant whisks a lunchbox off each pattern out of a nearby drawer.

"I'll have these gift-wrapped for you. No extra charge~!"

The Belgian disappeared into a back room. Spain paid for his lunchboxes, and handed you yours.

"Hehe. Looks like we're done, huh? That just leaves the conference.. Oh, Romano told me that you had a stylist or something..?"

You suddenly realize that you had forgotten to call her.

..

"What's with that 'Crap, I'm screwed' look? No stylist huh..? No worries! I'll get France to fix you up! We usually prepare before parties together. Romano usually just disappears before and arrives looking really good all of a sudden, so I don't really get to see him.."

You tell him that it's okay, you didn't really need a stylist, all you needed was a nice shower and you were good to go..

"But it's Lovi and Feli's party! You have to look really good for it.."

Spain pouted like a child. You decide to accept his help.

"Yay! I'll just tell France. Don't worry about him, I'm pretty sure he would LOVE to see you all prettied up! Not that you aren't pretty as you are right now, but.."

..

"Ahaha! Just relax. Boss Spain will take care of things for you! Meanwhile, I'm getting hungry.."

..

"Oh, but then there's the conference.. How about we go grab some wurst on the way back? I know a stand that Prussia likes! It's just nearby!"

The attendant returns with your purchases.

"Here you go! All wrapped up and ready to go. Thank you for shopping with us! If you see Ms. Belle, say hi for me!"

You step out into the German noonday sun. It wasn't as warm as it was in Italy, and people were still walking around busily.

Spain smiles at you.

"Come on! We're gonna be late at this rate!"

The two of you make a mad dash for the conference bulding.

You were beginning to feel excited about tonight's party..

~End~

* * *

Spain was surprisingly tricky to write.. You can imagine him being all deredere to Romano, but to most people I think he'd just be really sunny!

The party is next, along with another member of the Bad Friends Trio..

Reviews would be appreciated~! Thank you for reading! ^o^

-czieskara


	5. France

Boo. FFNet kept giving me errors when I was trying to upload things .

And thus, after my cosplay and all my exams.. I am back :D Kesesesese.

Some instructions this time~! Listen to this piece of wonderfulness all throughout the fic. [[ .com/watch?v=eWCgWqYqpZE ]]

Without further delay, here's the continuation of the Italy kyoudai party and France-niisan~!

* * *

**Shopping With Hetalia**

**Chapter 5 – France**

The meeting was surprisingly short. Everyone gave a brief update of their country's current state of affairs. There was some discussion of Japan's current state and some rabble going on in Egypt and the Middle East, but none of it was particularly significant.

You noticed that Germany was visibly bored, which was very strange, and that Prussia was for once acting useful on behalf of his brother and taking notes. Maybe Germany had a full workload..? You catch his eye, and Germany gave you a faint smile and a nod.

Half the room rose in an uproar.

"Vee~! Germany smiled..?"

"Are you okay, potato bastard? First the lackluster meeting and now this!"

"West! I think you've cracked from the stress! Let your awesome big brother cover for you if you're so tired!"

"No thanks, Bruder." Germany gave him a blank stare.

"EH? Germany, smiling? AHAHAHAHAHA~!" America stood up and laughed. "It must be April Fools or something!"

"Sit down you uncouth idiot, we're in the middle of a meeting!" England stood right up and gave him a knock on the head.

"Ah, allow him to do so England, he is in the springtime of his youth~!" France stood up dramatically.

"Shut up, you frog! Must you constantly meddle in my affairs?" England began to semi-strangle France.

"But of course, mon ami, what else is there for me to do? Ohoho~"

"Aha! That looks like fun, da~" Russia appeared behind both of them.

"Ai yah.." China stood up to restrain them.

You give a sigh of relief. This was more like the usual chaos at world meetings. Seeing as the meeting would most probably be adjourned, you straightened out your own notes.

"Hey~!"

You look up to see Spain grinning at you.

"I arranged for you to get styled by France's personnel. You should go talk to him later, okay? I'll come by with the you-know-whats later this afternoon!"

Spain shot you a mischievous secretive look. Prussia appeared out of nowhere and draped an arm around him, eliciting a very loud "CHIGI!" from Romano.

"Oi, oi, what's this about you-know-whats? Kesesesese. Antonio, you shouldn't leave out the awesome me in your plans for world domination or whatever. And who's this?"

Of all people, it was Prussia. This was the first time you'd seen him up close. He was a definite albino, with clear, pale skin that you could see veins through if you looked too closely. His eyes were a passionate fiery red, the opposite of Spain's cool green. His mouth seemed to be in a perpetual half-smirk that gave him a sort of bad boy expression. And his hair.. It was silvery white and feathery, and a complete spiky mess compared to Germany's usual clean-combed style.

"Ah! Prussia, this is the girl who's been helping out the Italy brothers and Germany. She's gotten me out of a real pinch this morning, too~!"

You briefly introduce yourself.

..

"Oh, you huh? You went with West to pick up the Breitling, didn't you? He's been in a pretty good mood since then! Wait, were you with him when he picked up that game I wanted?"

..

"Yeah, that one! Wait, you got the other version? We have got to trade sometime! I mean that last scene after beating the final boss was so awesome! D'you know you need the version exclusive to get the monster hiding here..? What do you mean, **you already have it**?"

"Haha! I knew the two of you would get along!"

Spain smiled at the two of you. An Italian hair curl appeared at the corner of your vision.

"Oi. Girl. You've been hogging Spain all day. You know it's my birthday, right?"

Romano gave you one of his signature death glares. You drag him a small distance from the two countries.

..

"Huh? You went to buy presents for later? Oh, I get it, he couldn't pick out anything for me again huh.. Seriously, that Spain. My fratello was the one who told him to get me that tomato necktie. Spain is so forgetful, he gives me at least five every other decade.."

..

"Okay, okay. I'm not gonna ask what you two got me, that would defeat the point. Thanks in advance, I'm sure YOU picked me something good.. Um. How was he..?"

You smile and tell him about how nice Spain was.

"Can charm a building to crumble for him if he wants to, that idiot.. Listen, there are two people in the entire world that I will not let ANYONE get their hands on without permission, and those are Spain and Veneziano. ESPECIALLY ANTONIO. If you even so much as TRY to seduce him.."

You were beginning to see the Mafioso in Romano's eyes. You reassure him that you have no intentions towards Spain at all.

..

"Good. Although honestly, keeping the idiot from flirting with everybody is harder than the other way around.."

"Ah, Antonio! What do we have here~?"

The two of you turn around to see France chatting happily with Spain and Prussia, with his arm around Spain's waist.

"That France bastard.."

Romano stormed off to retrieve his sunny partner, while you watch in curious wonder how on earth it was possible for France's limbs to go in those directions..

"Ve~! Good afternoon~!"

A beaming bright Italy Veneziano looked earnestly at you, Germany by his side.

You remember what day it is and wish him a happy birthday.

..

"Ve~ Grazie~! Do you have a present for me? I'm kidding~ A hug would be nice though!"

You nod and give him a hug.

"Eh? Wow! You actually gave me a hug..? You're always so nice!"

Italy had a very light and happy blush on his face. Germany's usual stern expression lightened, and he cleared his throat.

"We wanted to tell you that the party will be held in the hotel you are currently staying in, in one of the ballrooms. I myself will be overseeing the preparations.."

You nod in agreement.

"Ve~ Oh, how was yesterday? I heard you managed to do all of your errands pretty quickly!"

Italy looked at you expectantly.

..

"Oh? Germany is really quite nice, isn't he~ Ve~ He's the sort of person you learn to love the more time you spend with him~"

At the mention of the word love, Germany stiffened and turned bright red. Funny how he resembled Romano's usual tomato shade..

"Italy, I'm sure she has plans for the rest of the afternoon. So do you. I think we'd best keep the conversation for the party.."

"You're right.. But I really wanted to talk with you more~! You'd better come, all right?"

Of course you were coming!

"Ve~! Let's talk later then, mmkay? Ciao then!"

The two of them walked (well, Italy skipped) to the entrance of the meeting hall, meeting with Japan on the way. Italy and Germany were the strangest pair of friends you'd ever met, followed by Romano and Spain.. Well, if you could call either pair just friends. You weren't really sure, but the countries definitely left an impact..

A light tap on your shoulder brought you back to the real world.

"Bonjour. You must be the charming lady Spain mentioned to me..?"

It was none other than France. He seemed to have recovered quickly from Romano's wrestling. Even his clothes looked pristine..

..

"Oh, that was nothing, mon cheri~ You should see me duke it out with Prussia when we feel like it. I endure Romano because as you know, he is quite adorable~"

..

"Ohoho~ He is, isn't he? Well then, I have been told that you are in need of a stylist for later. I would be happy to lend you my assistance~ It is national pride! But of course I will not just have you made up. In the words of America, I shall give you a good make over~"

..

"Why not? Styling merely involves getting your hair and make up done, oui? That is a simple matter, even yours truly can do that with simply a toothbrush! No, my dear, I will not stop at mere styling. Especially not in Germany! I will see to it that them moment you step into that party all eyes will be turned on you and only you~"

You begin to explain that you were on a strict budget..

"Worry not about the cost. You've helped dear Antonio out in dire straits! Present shopping is of course, a serious affair. Especially when lovers are involved~ Oh, but they aren't lovers, are they? Or are they..? Ohoho. Let's not stress the important details."

You notice that he seemed to prefer using his friends' human names.

..

"You've helped others as well, haven't you? When you've lived as long as we have, it is not money we are concerned about. Seemingly small things like looking for a present for a dear one are quite important in retrospect. The only time one of us ever has to worry is if there's a deficit in the national budget. Oh but there is always a deficit! Well, not in Switzerland's case, maybe. But I digress. Shall we get going then?"

The two of you walked out of the meeting room and walked down an impressive set of stairs to the foyer of the conference building.

..

"Ah. Our itinerary will be as follows. You see, dear Gilbert knocked over my only bottle of perfume this morning, so I will be stopping by a boutique to restock. I will also be making purchases on behalf of Antonio and Gilbert. You should purchase a fragrance as well~ Then it's off to one of my favorite salons, where we will meet with my personal stylist Jeanne, and she will supervise us."

You suddenly remember that your stuff was back at the hotel.

..

"That can be arranged~ Allow me to borrow your room key, and I will send a trusted man to retrieve your things. Of course, we have to put back the clothes you are wearing now as well~"

You hesitate, then give France the room key.

"Merci~ I am glad that you trust me. England spouts so much nonsense about how I like to fool young things into doing certain.. favors for me. I haven't done that in quite a while! Besides, Arthur and Antonio are entertainment enough for me~"

A young man in a smart but fashionable suit appears out of nowhere.

"Ah, just in time~ Philippe, give this key to Pierre #3. He will know what to do."

The man nodded and disappeared.

..

"Oh, Philippe? He's my man stationed in Germany. We all have men stationed everywhere, you know. It's quite convenient. Pierre? He is one of my finest messengers. #3 is the one assigned to members of the Bad Friends Trio, or so we are called.."

You ask him why they are called that.

"That? It is because when all three of us unite, well.. Bad things happen~"

..

"What sort of bad things..? Oh, chaos is the norm. Have you ever wondered why world meetings are so chaotic? Leave the three of us in a room and within a few minutes we will be up to something devious~ Having England, America and Romano in the same room literally doubles the effect~"

You are glad that Germany is never absent from meetings..

* * *

At the building entrance a sleek black limo with someone who looked like Philippe awaited.

"Ladies first, of course."

France gestured to you. You got in first. The limo was nice and shaded, but not too dark. You noticed that the windows were tinted.

You suddenly realize as France got into the limo next to you. You would be spending time in a confined space with.. FRANCE.

"Are you all right, mon cheri? You look uncomfortable."

You hesitantly voice your concerns.

..

"Hm. Those are not unfounded.. And I agree with both Antonio and Gilbert that you are very, very cute~ I would not mind whisking you off to a romantic night in Paris instead."

You stare at him.

"But there are things that need to be done. Being a Frenchman I too have a sense of duty! Reliable men aren't all German. Do not worry, mon cheri, you are in very good hands."

You are still on edge.

"My dear, please do rid the world of that expression on your face. It does not become you."

France smiled and gave you a peck on the cheek. You recoil in absolute surprise and find that he is laughing at you. The nerve!

"Gilbert was right, you are the touchy type! Ahahaha~ You remind me of England in the early days!"

..

"Forgive me mon cheri, I could not resist. It won't happen again, I promise. Unless you would like for it to. I certainly would! A kiss on the cheek is definitely not enough to capture the essence of a woman. You particularly seem to be difficult to capture."

France gives you a dreamy look.

"Don't get me wrong, I am every bit the horny bastard Romano and company say I am. I will not try to deny it~ It is who I am after all. But I am trustworthy. You are safe. If it makes you comfortable, I will sit here on the other side of the world no matter how much it pains me~"

France leaned back in his seat, keeping a good distance from you.

"Judging from where we are.. We should reach the boutique shortly~ Do relax, ma mie~"

You decide to trust him for now, and sit back in your seat similarly to how he did. You feel his eyes on you.

"You have the cutest little pout, you know that? Very Romano. I'll bet it took Spain all he had to keep his hands off you."

France was smiling at you. He was a beautiful man, in a different sort of beauty than Spain's. Long blonde curls, smoldering sapphire blue eyes, a shy yet bold smile, and a short, soft stubbly beard that somehow made him look manlier. He was the sort of guy most girls would hop into bed with because he looked like he'd be a good lay.

"Hmm~ Why are you looking at me as if you want to know what's under my shirt? I'll glady show you if you want~"

You quickly shake your head. On top of his looks, he was comfortable with his body, both in AND out of clothes.. If he and the other two Bad Friends joined forces, no woman would be able to resist!

You decide not to think too much about it, and relax as France fawned over you from a distance. If anything, the compliments made you smile.

* * *

The boutique was one of those minimalist retailers with the insides all white, black and chrome. This one had a very classy feel to it though, with several mirrors littered around it even though they didn't sell much in terms of clothing, a simple crystal chandelier, and some strategically placed modern artwork along the walls. Various tables and displays had bottles of perfume set neatly in lines. The bottles were mostly glass, but they came in so many varieties..

France allowed you to take in the aura of the store. An attendant with her hair in a bun approached. She seemed to be familiar with France..

"All right~ First to pick up my things."

France picked up a bottle of perfume that seemed pricey. The label on the bottle read Gucci Envy.

"This one is one of my favorites~ It's a strong and mysterious scent. Try it."

He picked up a small slip of paper from a nearby box. It was one of those papers that had perfume samples sprayed onto them. You take a deep breath and smell.

It was a very refined woody scent. You could picture France in a suit somewhere drinking wine with the Eiffel Tower in the background..

"Like it? I did too, when it first came out ten years ago. I use a different one for dates, but when I feel particularly manly I use this~ When I'm feeling more flowery, the version for women is also quite peppy, although I use it quite sparingly."

You try the womens' version, Envy Me. It came in a cute pink bottle with the Gucci logo all over it. The smell was indeed flowery, and reminded you of fountains, terraces, walking down the streets of Venice with Italy, having lunch with Romano..

"I think you do like it. Very much, I take it?"

..

France was grinning.

"This is one field of expertise that neither of the Italy brothers can defeat me in~ They are not sensual enough to master the delicacies of fragrances. Come, let's add that to our purchases."

He orders a box from the attendant. You then notice him picking out other bottles.

"Curious? These two are for Gilbert and Antonio respectively~ They are Davidoff Hot Water and Cool Water. These two were made to compliment each other, as you will see if you try them~"

Hot Water was a spicy mix that completely woke you up the moment you smelled it. It reminded you of fire, pepper, hot incense. This was definitely for Prussia. After a few moments to flush out the scent from your nostrils, you inhale Cool Water and find that it was the opposite. Cool Water was like a wave of soothing rain. Scents of morning grass, cool breezes, summer mornings in bed..

"They're not the only ones who use perfume. If I'm not mistaken, America uses a Tommy Hilfiger.. Germany uses Hugo Boss, the Italy brothers wear the same Armani, although Feliciano uses a Yves Saint Laurent cologne more casually.. I haven't been around Japan for long so I can't say for sure but I think he wears Polo Ralph Lauren. England uses -"

France points out a bottle that looked like it was wearing a plaid khaki coat.

"-Burberry London, that ego. China uses Calvin Klein Obsession, which suits him very well and Russia uses-"

He points out a square, black, strong-looking bottle.

"Kenneth Cole Vintage Black. It's a VERY strong fragrance, and very sexy. I could name a few others if you like."

You wonder how on earth France knows all of this.

..

"I helped most of them look for perfume. You're not the only one with that ability you know~ The rest I guessed, but it's not very hard if you know your scents well. Many of these are quite unique."

..

"Ahaha. If you've been aroud long enough, at least one of your senses will improve beyond others.. I particularly am proud of my sense of smell. You wouldn't know how much it comes in handy until you're deprived of your other senses.. In the dark, blindfolded, everything is magnified. The smell of sweat, wood, stone, mold.. Tea, honey, blood.. Scents are quite powerful."

That last example made you shudder.

"I apologize.. Being a country isn't all glamour. We've had our share of hardships.. But in pleasant times, we do try to enjoy even the simple things. Like shopping, and friends."

France puts his arm around your waist.

"Making new friends is especially pleasant. It helps ease everything."

He brushes some bangs away from your face and smiles at you. France.. The biggest flirt on the planet, being all emotional? Maybe this was his way of dealing with history.. It made you want to hug him somehow, but you were pretty sure he'd get the wrong idea. You gave him an understanding smile.

"See? There's that smile again. I have a hard time believing that you aren't related to Antonio or Feliciano."

The attendant returns with a package, and a bill. France takes a wallet out of his pocket, and hands her his red credit card.

"Okay! Now that that is settled, let's get you to the stylist. Would you like to get a new hair style? Don't worry about paying anything. Jeanne's fee is the same each month no matter how many times she has to fix me up, so I might as well take advantage~"

As soon as the bill was settled, the two of you got back into the limo.

"We'll be visiting one of the fancier salons here~ I wonder though. Would you like to have your hair simply fixed up? Or should we get it cut into something more fashionable? Pardon me for saying this, ma mie, but you hair looks like it hasn't seen a salon in ages."

This was partly true. Your job didn't really allow for a whole lot of off days seeing as you had to keep chasing after the nations..

"Hmm. Let's get it cut into a new style. Your hair will be around the same length as it is now, except just a little shorter. Oh, but I must see the dress you're wearing."

France took out his cell phone (a snow-white Blackberry) and texted one of his men. You stare out the window for a bit until you realize that he still has his arm around you. Somehow, you still feel comfortable. He was pretty warm..

You decide to give in and lean you head on his shoulder.

"Oh? This is nice~"

France nuzzled the top of your head.

"You know, I'd like it a lot if you'd be my little sister~ I mean, in the sort of way that Liechtenstein is Switzerland's little sister~ Oh, you didn't think that they were actually related, did you?"

You're surprised to hear this.

"Hmm. Gilbert and Ludwig aren't biological siblings either. He took in Ludwig at an early age. The Italy twins are obviously siblings. I'm biologically their older brother, but we're quite far apart in terms of age.. and birth. With Spain it's the same.. We grew up roughly at the same time, and we're supposed to be related rather distantly. But I don't like dwelling too much on it~ It becomes more scientific than anything that way."

..

"All the same, I want to be an older brother to someone~ With England it failed horribly. Or maybe it's because it was just England. That bastard, he took away more of my colonies than he could handle. Oh, my poor Mattieu.. And dear Michelle!"

Michelle?

"Seychelles. You won't see her often at meetings.. She's quite busy running her island. And I think she's doing a fine job at it. She grew up very quickly.."

France pats your head, and you notice that he has a longing expression.

"You're a lot smarter than most people I've met. Including a lot of countries. I like you.. And I would love it if you'd call me your big brother~"

..

"Ahaha.. Think about it, won't you? In my experience, people like you are few and far between.. Oh, here we are."

You arrived at a very posh salon set in the middle of a very fashionable district. You could have sworn that all the busy people rushing by were Italian based on their clothes alone.. If not for the very sleek and sharp hairstyles favored by the Germans.

A woman with her blonde hair in a bun approached you.

"Bonjour, monsieur Francois"

"Bonjour, Jeanne."

So this was Jeanne..

"Bonjour, madamoiselle. I am Jeanne, part Francois' stylist and part attendant. Mr. Kirkland often refers to me as his babysitter."

France shrugs, and you introduce yourself.

..

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I will be overseeing your pampering today. In light of the circumstances, I must ask if there is anything noteworthy I should know about your hair and skin. Any allergies or concerns I must know about?"

..

"I shall keep those in mind. We will first be doing your hair and nails. After your things have arrived, we'll get the makeup done to match your dress. Is this acceptable?"

You nod, and wonder if all French women were this precise. Jeanne turned to face France.

"I have received word that Pierre #3 has relayed his instructions to the appropriate men. Madamoiselle's belongings will be along shortly."

France nodded.

"Good, good. Jeanne, I am leaving this beautiful flower in your care. By the time she steps out of the salon, she should look-"

"Tres magnifique."

"Oui. I assume the preparations for my own styling are complete?"

"Yes, Francois."

You were pretty sure that France was supposed to be 'Francis'..

France chuckled.

"Francois is the French version of Francis. As I tell everyone, you may call me whatever you wish~ Although as I've said earlier, I would love it if you called me your older brother~"

You had to smile.

"Mmm~ That smile is better than any answer. Well then, I musn't be keeping you. Jeanne, do me proud!"

Jeanne nodded and ushered you into the salon in a flurry. Within minutes your hair had been washed and primed for treatment. You sat comfortably in a salon chair with one person applying a mixture of hair product into your scalp, while another began working on your toes.

"Is there any hair style in particular you would like? The stylists here are some of the best in the world. Maybe you would like to see a catalogue..?"

Jeanne hands you a hair magazine with various pictures of hair styles. You look at them all in wonder. More than half of them looked like they belonged on a model, and the other half looked like they belonged on a celebrity.

"Francois has told me that you might prefer a style closer to the current length of you hair. Might I suggest these..?"

Jeanne directed you to a section of the magazine aimed at do-it-at-home stylists; There were pictures of about two or three styles that could be achieved from the same base haircut. Several of the base cuts were quite normal, but one looked nice and edgy. You ask Jeanne about that one.

"Hmm. That's a bit shorter than our target length. Would that be all right with you?"

You nod. Jeanne summons a stylist and hands him the magazine, followed by detailed intructions about the cut and the blow dry that you couldn't make a lot of sense of. The person treating your hair vanishes and a second one appears with one of those hair steaming machines.

The moment you began steaming, Spain popped out of nowhere.

"Hi~! There you are! I was just talking to France in the other room, he's got cucumbers and hair curlers all over him.."

You are surprised to see him.

..

"Ah, I just came by with your stuff! Prussia wanted to do it, but I told him he had to go help Germany instead. 'sides, I gotta get myself fixed up as well! How's your afternoon with France so far?"

..

"Really? ..wait, he called you what? That's.. Well, that's saying something."

Spain seemed amazed.

..

"Hm. Let's just say that this is something Boss Spain is gonna keep a little secret. Next time he calls you that.."

He whispers something to you.

"..call him that back. You'll see something very cool!"

Spain set two large paper bags in front of you.

"Here's your dress, and the accessories. Romano told me what he'd gotten for you, so it wasn't that hard to find them. They were even still in the store packaging! The other bag has our presents.."

You're slightly embarrassed. Spain went through your stuff..?

"Don't worry, I didn't touch anything else. It would be impolite."

Spain gazed at you with wide green eyes. You look happily back, then remember Romano's warning and start laughing.

"Eh? Why are you laughing? I don't get it.. Huh? Romano said..?"

Spain seemed thoughtful.

..

"Mm. It's nice to see he's concerned~ And yeah, me and Francis and Gilbert are all big flirts~ That's why we get along so well! But Lovino.. I've got a special place for him right here."

Spain pointed to the middle of his chest.

"You can tell him that that's not gonna change any time soon."

You smile and ask Spain to tell Romano himself.

..

"Haha! You're right about that one, I guess! Oh, I wanna see the look on his face. He'll be so cute~ All red like a little tomato~"

You let Spain ramble on about how cute Romano was in his little pyjamas when he was a kid all pouting. Somehow, having Spain here and knowing that France was just in the next room within reach.. It made you kinda happy having those two around. You had to wonder though. Is Prussia anywhere near as nice as these two?

You settled into your salon chair, as Spain continued.

* * *

You yawn sleepily.

..

Wait. You were asleep?

"Bonsoir, ma mie~"

You look up to find France peering down at you lovingly. He'd changed into a fitting casual suit with the shirt partially unbuttoned to reveal some blonde chest hair.

"You must have been tuckered out over the past few days, hm? Jeanne says you'd slept rather deeply. But look, your hair is done! You look quite exquisite~"

You rub your eyes for a bit and look in the mirror. Your newly styled hair framed your face wonderfully, and the color was absolutely divine. It was bright and dark at the same time and was a near copy of your original shade, but it somehow stood up more. With some scrutiny you discover that there were subtle highlights in key places.

Gosh, you looked gorgeous.

"Hoho~ My, she did a good job on you. I'm surprised Antonio tore himself away from you so easily! And with you sleeping so cutely like that. I suppose he has a Romano waiting for him back at the hotel, but I beg to differ~"

You stretch and stand up.

..

"Hmm~ We still have plenty of time. But I think you'd better get into your dress, oui? So that they can make you up~"

France gestured towards a small changing room along a hallway of the salon. You nod and grab the paper bags Spain brought.

The changing room had a very quiet aura. After making sure France hadn't bugged the room with cameras and whatnot, you change into the dress Romano had picked for you.

..

You find something in the paper bag that you were SURE you hadn't gotten.. And there was a note.

_You might find this a tad bit ecchi of me, but I believe that this should match your clothes perfectly~ I had Jeanne take your measurements while you were asleep. I am a fan of this particular brand~ Forgive this perverted big brother of yours, but I couldn't resist! A woman should look as good in her clothes as she would out of them~ -Francois Bonnefoy_

You stare at the blue and black lacy underwear that had been under the note in the paper bag. It was a top and bottom set that looked very very sexy. The fabric seemed very soft and inviting, and the material seemed to change shades ever so slightly with each movement.

You decide to wear it anyway, with a feeling that you'd regret it afterwards..

You hear France step right outside the curtain.

..

"Hm? Are you finished yet? Or do you require some assistance? I would be very happy to help you with the linge-"

You aim a swift kick to his shin.

"Ow!"

..

"I take it you're not too happy with my gift then? You don't have to wear them.."

You'd finished up with the dress anyway, so you pulled back the curtain.

France stared at you.

"Mon Dieu. Romano really went all out, didn't he?"

You look in one of the salon's mirror and find yourself completely unrecognisable from when you first walked in. And that was without makeup!

After a few seconds of admiring yourself, you notice that France hadn't budged.

..

"Ah, I'm fine, I'm fine. Allow me to recover, your radiance blinded me for a moment there."

..

"I really do mean it. I know it's courtesy to flirt in French, but.. Mon Dieu. Those shoes, with that dress.. I must remember to thank Spain for letting me see you first. You aren't even finished yet, are you?"

France clapped his hands three times, and Jeanne materialized beside him.

"Jeanne, makeup. Also, retrieve that bottle of Envy Me."

"Very good, sir."

Jeanne whisked you off to a makeup table, where in a flurry of powder puffs and eyelash curlers, you were made up in midnight blue eyeshadow and some wonderfully neutral cherry blush. You notice France watching out of the corner of your eye, and he was nodding at every other stroke of the makeup brush.

At the last moment, Jeanne sprayed a very fine mist of perfume over you.

"Perfect."

France took a deep breath, and gazed at you from top to bottom.

"You know, I am now regretting that I did not kidnap you for a romantic night with yours truly. You would be the absolute envy of all Paris all dressed up like that."

..

"Really. I want to keep you all to myself, ma mie."

France picked up both of your paper bags and handed them to Jeanne, who disappeared wordlessly.

It had been bothering you that he was calling you ma mie, whatever it meant. You'd asked Spain about it, but..

..

France laughed elegantly.

"Ma mie.. is used to refer to a close lady friend. One that you are very much fond of.."

He put an arm around you and looked you directly in the eye as you walk out the salon.

"Would you be willing to be that for me? A wonderful woman, and a friend above all~"

Admittedly, he was one hell of a perv. With all his gentle eccentricities.. you couldn't help but like the guy somehow. Either way, it was your turn to be French..

You whisper something in his ear.

_Bien sûr, mon cher frère._

France's blue eyes widened.

"Who taught you that..?"

You smile mischievously.

"Ohoho. Your lips are sealed, are they? Nii-san will steal a few kisses from them before the night is over~"

France tried to embrace you with both arms. You dodge and laugh.

..

"I will have you yet, mon petit chat.. Come back here~!"

"Hey, you two, we'll be late! Stop playing around!"

Spain emerged from the salon, looking exactly like he did when the two of you went shopping the morning earlier.

"Fine, fine, mon ami. The night is young yet."

France's limo rolled up the pavement, and the nation himself opene the door for you.

"After you, ma mie."

He smiled with a twinkle in his eye like the two of you shared a secret. You get into the limo, Spain clambering and France sliding in after you.

"Well then.. To the party."

France slides an arm around you as the car sped off into the night.

~End~

* * *

Ah, France~ He's definitely one of my favorites. He's actually pretty deep if you try peeling back a couple of layers.. And I love how fun he is. He's a different sort of fun than Spain and Italy XD

The sort of fun that every girl enjoys at some point~

..well, the sort of fun one enjoys from a boyfriend~

Next chapter is the last of the Italy party.. And who else but the life of the party Gilber Beilshmidt to be the next shopping partner?

-czieskara


	6. The Awesome Prussia

I realize France was about double the size of most chapters ;w; He took way too long to set up! Rather, the story is taking a life of its own..

And so are the side characters. They will be interfering now, with regularity! Although that'll probably skyrocket the length..

On a side note.. the Romaheta Italy twins.. I'm in love, I think.

Since Prussia's itching to go, on to the fic proper.

* * *

**Shopping With Hetalia**

**Chapter 6 - Prussia**

"Happy Birthday Feli and Lovi!"

Party poppers, confetti and various shiny lights courtesy of England shot into the air.

"Ve~! Grazie, everyone! Thank you for celebrating with us!"

"I'm glad you like it, Italy."

Germany patted Italy on the head. Italy purred happily.

"Tch. I suppose I could thank you guys for holding us a party."

"Of course we'd hold you a party, Lovi! You don't even have to ask. Boss Spain will take care of everything for you~"

As Spain nuzzled Romano, you smiled at a distance. The party was held at one of the largest and grandest ballrooms you'd ever been in (and, according to the hotel staff, the grandest in the entirety of Germany). You were seated along with several other guest countries a little ways from the main table where the Italies were being fawned over.

France had been right; Heads had turned the moment you stepped into the room. Even the countries whom you hadn't spoken to at all seemed to have taken interest in you..

"Oh, so you grew up in the city? That sounds pretty cool!"

Finland smiled at you with genuine interest.

"I grew up in the mountains. I find that the city is really convenient, but the countryside is also quite wonderful. Isn't that right, Su-san?"

Sweden looked at you bashfully and nodded. He was another one of those countries that you hadn't quite made up your mind about, and he always seemed scary-quiet at meetings. Right now though, he seemed pretty shy, and appeared to actually find _you_ intimidating!

"I don't like the city a whole lot. The countryside is quieter. And the fjords back home are nice."

Norway sipped some apple cider from a glass with a swirly purple straw.

"Is it cold where you live? It can get pretty cold back in my country! That's why we drink a lot to keep ourselves warm!"

Denmark finished off a glass of German beer.

"Oi, don't you think it's too early for drinking?"

Iceland stared at him.

"Bah! When in Rome, do as the Romans do. And there's nothing Germans do better than drink!"

"Well said, Matthias!"

Prussia appeared and banged his own beer glass down on the table.

"Beilschmidt! Good timing. We were just talking to this lovely damer.."

He then noticed you.

"Oh! Who do we have here? ..**WHOA!** You're the girl from the meeting earlier! You look damn hot! Did Francey get you fixed up? Figures!"

Prussia sat down next to you and looked you straight in the eye.

"Damn. He did a good one on you."

..

"I'm serious. You nearly got my five meters up and going."

You had no idea what Prussia's five meters were, so you simply shrugged. Denmark on the other hand seemed highly amused.

"So, I was wondering if-"

"Vee~!"

Italy appeared out of nowhere and pounced on top of you.

..

"Buona sera~ Oh! You look really pretty right now~ Ve~"

You thank him, and greet him a happy birthday once more.

"Ve~ Grazie~ It makes me happy that a pretty girl is greeting me~"

You turn to find Prussia looking slightly dejected, but engaged in a drinking conversation with Denmark and a very reluctant Norway. You decide that he is fine, and you grab the paper bag under your seat..

"Ve? What's that? ..eh? Presents? For me and fratello?"

Italy's eyes opened wide. If you'd thought Spain and France's eyes were gorgeous, they were nothing compared to Italy's. They were like a pair of sparkling bronze suns radiating the Italian warmth that you'd felt emanating from the entirety of Venice.

"Thank you~! I'm so glad you got me a present! Wait here, I'll go get fratello!"

You decide to bring the present to Romano yourself instead. Besides, Spain's were in the bag as well.

"Okay! That sounds pretty good too!"

Italy briefly greeted the Nordics a very bright Buona sera, thank you for coming, how was your day? After the Italian pleasantries had been exchanged, the two of you made your way to the center of the ballroom where Romano was fighting off a very eager Spain and an opportunistic France.

"Oi! About darn time you came back, these two are gonna end up killing me at this rate. Who's that with you?"

"Don't you recognize her, Lovi?"

Romano stared at you for a moment before realizing.

"Oh. It's you. Hm. The dress looks good on you, as I expected."

He sniffs the air.

"Is that Envy?"

"Oui~ I lent her some of mine."

France lays an arm around your waist, and gives you one of his flirty looks.

Prussia arrives and does the same.

"Yes, good job, Francis! As I was saying-"

"Ve! Fratello! She got us presents! Look, look!"

Prussia faltered as Italy looked at you expectantly. You smile and set the paper bag onto a table, and take out your matching packages. You hand each brother their respective gift.

"Grazie~"

"Thanks."

Italy gingerly opens his gift, while Romano casually tears away the packaging.

"Ve~? It's.. Fratello, it's a lunchbox! Wow, it's really pretty! And it's blue~!"

You see Romano scrutinizing his.

"Hm. This is pretty good. Not too flashy, but stylish"

Romano nodded approvingly and gave you a proud smile.

"Oh! Wow, it even has a little container for sauce! This would be perfect for pasta! I love it!"

Italy put his lunch set on the table and hugged you.

"Thank you~! It's a great gift! I'm gonna start using it immediately!"

"Hey, you want to see what I got you? We picked it out especially for you two!"

Spain takes out two bubble-wrapped packages from the paper bag.

"Ve! Thank you, big brother Spain!"

"It had better not be another tomato necktie, you bastard."

"No, it's not~ Don't worry, I'm sure you'll like this! Lemme help you guys open them."

Spain carefully unwraps each package to reveal two heavy cardboard boxes. Italy played with the bubble wrap while Spain opened the first package..

It was a light marbled cream colored music box, with gold angels stenciled to the cover. An orange-red cross design adorned the sides of the box.

"This one's for you, Feliciano! Open it! Be careful though..!"

Italy unlatched the music box. The insides were a very pretty tomato red velvet. A very light melody that was obviously Maru Kaite Chikyuu began to play.

"A music box..? Antonio, this is wonderful! I really like it!"

Italy sat down, happily listening to the tune. Romano looked annoyed.

"And? Where's mine?"

"Right here, Lovi~ You were always so impatient."

As Spain unwraps Romano's box, you notice that he's using the cuff links Romano had bought for him the other day.

Romano's music box was visually identical to Feliciano's. All you noticed that was different was that on the back, Romano's name had been embossed in gold. You assumed Feliciano's had a similar inscription.

"I had them modeled after your church outfits. I've always liked seeing you in them~"

"And what does this play? The Italian national anthem?"

Romano looked at you. You were pretty sure that he WAS expecting the Italian national anthem. You had to admit it, Romano knew his Boss pretty well.

"Open it and see for yourself!"

Romano unlatched his box and opened it in a flourish. The upbeat notes of Buono Tomato pierced the air. Even Austria turned his head at the simple melody.

"Buono.. Tomato?"

Romano seemed stunned.

"Yup! Your song, that we wrote together when you were a kid~! Isn't it great?"

Romano looked back at Spain, then at you, then at the music box, and back to Spain again. France, standing off to one side, was clearly amused.

"How did you..? This is.. How is this..?"

"You like it, don't you?"

Spain smiled and hugged him from behind. He gave you a grateful look and a wink.

"I'm jealous, fratello! Your music box sounds wonderful!"

Italy closed his and began humming to the song.

"Ohoho~ Mon cheri, I am impressed! You've humbled dear Romano!"

France pats you on the head.

"The last time one of _my_ presents got him all speechless, I was in the hospital for a week."

"You popped out of a birthday cake naked, idiot pervert. You got what you deserve!"

"Oh, but if dear Antonio did that instead of moi, you would have liked it, wouldn't you?"

Romano slowly turned from a normal tomato red to a boiling hot inferno red..

Having been around them long enough now, you knew enough to take cover-

"**CHIGI!**"

"Ve! Fratello! Don't fight!"

"Agh, ow, ow, OW! Watch the hair!"

"France bastard! How dare you bastardize Antonio like that!"

"But Lovi, you call me a bastard all the time."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT, DAMMIT!"

An arm grabs your shoulder from under the table, and drags you in.

..?

"Ssh!"

It was Prussia.

* * *

"About time those guys got into a mess. France and Romano? Ticking time bomb!"

..

"Eh? Why'd I pull you under the table? Well, I wanted to talk to you, that's why."

You could hear sounds of a struggle outside. ("Get your hands off me, you bastard!")

"Y'see, ever since Germany got back from those errands with you, he's been handed one job after another. Japan was supposed to be in charge of the party preparations and all, but as you clearly should know, he's not exactly in the position to be organizing anything other than his own stuff."

Prussia coughs, and you nod. ("But Lovi! You nearly tore Francis' suit up!")

"Right now, West and Kiku should be out there. It IS Italy's birthday, so they should celebrate with him. Thing is though, I kinda want to do something for them, and after hearing from both the Italy brothers that you're good at shopping, I was wondering.."

Good at shopping? Hardly, you thought. Most of the last few shopping trips were mostly the countries buying things for you.. ("I don't care, dammit! He, uh.. I.. Those kinds of things..")

..

"If it's cash, I don't care. I'll be paying for the stuff myself! But it's not shopping exactly! What I was thinking of were along these lines.."

Prussia explained a somewhat devious plan to you. It was Prussia, so it had to be devious, but there were a lot of holes, which explained the somewhat.

"Right now, West and Kiku are staying in this hotel, Kiku for obvious reasons and West to oversee the party stuff. I managed to swipe both their room keys! I was planning to leave a little something for both of them in their rooms. Something that ought to help them relax after the stress." ("Ohoho~! Perhaps I struck a sensitive note in little Lovino.. Perhaps you would prefer to enjoy Antonio's antics in private?")

It was a good idea, but it sounded kinda lame. And what did he have in mind..?

..

"I don't know what something exactly! I don't think one of my awesome pranks will work this time! That's why I wanted to ask you! Ludwig, Antonio and Francis all seemed pretty pleased after spending time with you! Although Francey's reasoning should be obvious.. ANYWAY. I need your help." ("You.. CHE PALLE! **ROSARIO IMPALE!**")

..

"We won't be doing any actual walking around stores. Instead, we'll be shopping online with this!"

Prussia whipped out a small laptop computer. It was a sleek new model that had a lot of scratches on the front, and a sticker of Prussia's little bird on it. ("Ve! No, brother! You'll wreck the cake!")

"Don't worry about the shipping. I'll sweat the details. Besides, I've got France's couriers on my side! Either way, we'll only be browsing German online stores.."

You decide to help him. Prussia seemed humbler than his normal self. And if it was to help out Germany and Japan, you were up for it.

..

"You'll help? That's just great! Thank you! I promise I'll pay you back one day when I'm not too busy being awesome!"

You were beginning to feel uncomfortable under the table as the ruckus outside grew louder.

..

"Eh? Move to a different spot? Judging from the sounds outside.. Yeah. That's actually a pretty good idea.."

Prussia gestured for you to follow him as he snapped the laptop shut. He crawled to the other side of the table and dashed off. You went in pursuit as the table you had been hiding under broke from one of Romano's attacks.

That was close..

* * *

The two of you sat down at an unoccupied table.

"Right! Let's see. What would help West destress after a long day..?"

Prussia set the laptop on the table and clicked through the catalog. He pouted.

"Well, what are you just sitting around for? Help me out here!"

You thought about it carefully. Guns and ammunition were out of the question. Clothes weren't the best thing, either..

"You sure he wouldn't want a new Smith and Wesson?"

..

"I dunno, I usually find that cool stuff cheers me up pretty quickly."

"Need help?"

You jump. America was sitting next to you, and he seemed to be holding a.. small polar bear?

..

"Oh, no, I'm not America. You're new, aren't you? Well I suppose even the more tenured countries make the same mistake.."

"Oh! Mattie! Sorry, I didn't see you there. Lemme introduce you! This is Canada."

Prussia stops clicking for a second, and puts an arm around Canada.

"Good evening. And you are..?"

You introduce yourself.

..

"Nice to meet you. I am Canada, America's.. lesser known little brother. You might know me as Matthew Williams.. This is my pet, Kumatarou-san! Kumatarou-san, say hi!"

"Who the hell are you?"

The bear stared at Canada.

"I'm Canada! Really, you keep forgetting who I am after all this time, Kurikijou-san.."

Hey, wasn't his name different..?

..

Prussia laughed and shook his head.

"They're always forgetting each other's names. It works out for them somehow."

Prussia opens a new page and sets of do-it-yourself things appear..

"Hey, this is cool! Do-it-yourself boxing ring, do-it-yourself dentist kit, do-it-yourself television repair.."

You have to stare at the page. Things like this existed..? Until..

One particularly sensible kit catches your eye, and you point to it.

"Do-it-yourself aromatherapy spa kit? Really?"

Prussia cocks his head and looks at you.

"What are the two of you looking for?"

Canada looks at the screen.

"Oh! We're looking for stuff that'll help West and Kiku de-stress!"

Prussia flashed Canada a silly grin.

"I can't imagine Germany using a do-it-yourself kit like that... But the aromatherapy is a nice idea though."

Canada nodded at you.

..

"Hmm. Maybe something simpler than a kit would do. Like bath gel, or bubble baths. Right, Kiriojou-san?"

"Who are you?"

You and Canada sigh and continue searching with Prussia. Canada's idea was really good, so you order Prussia to do a quick search for some bath products..

"Here we go! These are Austrian products. Austria's house isn't too far away from here, so we can actually get the stuff here faster! See anything that'd work?"

You scan the page. There were a lot of herbal-based products, but most of them were for skin rejuvenation or anti aging and things like that..

"That one would work! It's a set of bath salts."

Canada points to a product on the page. It had a picture of what appeared to be several bars of soap laid in a nice dark green box.

"Lavender, chamomile, lemongrass.. All refreshing, relaxing scents. I rather like maple syrup and honey myself, although they get me more hungry than relaxed.."

Canada looked hungry.

"Hmm. The price is pretty good, too! So this'll work for West!"

"What will work for me?"

You and Prussia 'eeped' and turned around. Germany was standing behind you with an inquisitive look on his face. He was wearing a fancy but modern looking black suit – someone must have gotten it for him – with a red button-up shirt inside.

"He can't find out about this..!"

Prussia told you in a stage whisper.

"Find out about..?"

Germany looked at you for a couple of seconds before realizing.

"Oh! I apologise, I didn't recognise you. You look stunning. I take it Romano was involved somehow?"

Prussia's jaw drops as Germany sits down and smiles. You see the Breitling shining on his wrist.

..

"I thought so. He's dressed up both Feliciano and my own bruder on occasion. I see you've met Prussia."

Germany nodded at his brother, who anxiously nodded back. You then notice that Canada has disappeared – along with Prussia's laptop!

A waiter appears and hands both Germans a beer each.

"Do you drink? I would recommend the draft beer. This hotel brews up some of the finest."

You politely shake your head. You were pretty sure that you didn't want to be drunk in the presence of the Bad Friends.

Germany shrugs and takes a few gulps. Prussia signals you, and points to a vase several tables away. You see Canada and his bear typing on Prussia's laptop.

So he can become invisible..? That sounded like a handy skill.

Canada flashes the screen at you. _Distract Germany somehow!_

"West! I, er, have something to talk to you about! In private! It's about Italy!"

Germany replied with a look of curious concern.

"Is it that important? Very... well then.."

Prussia winks at you and drags Germany off somewhere. Canada hesitantly returns to the table.

"Phew. If it means anything, I placed the order for one set. I got this funny notification.."

Canada shows you Prussia's laptop, which now had a small time bar with a mini Gilbird on it. It seemed to be flapping its wings about once a second, and was moving slowly from one end of the bar to the other. A timer that showed 45:00 was under the bar..

"Looks like the package will arrive in 45 minutes..? But it looks like we're stuck for now. I only managed to place that order because Prussia'd entered his payment info.. We'll need him to do it again to buy anything else."

You hear a small commotion, and you see Japan conversing with the two Italies. Both siblings were now holding the new portable 3D console each.

..you were jealous...

"I think you should go talk to Kiku.. It'll be easier to pick something out for him if we know what he wants. I'll be waiting for Prussia to come back here, okay?"

You nod and stand up. Canada's bear looks at you for a moment, and began to chew on Canada's sleeve.

"Agh! Stop that, Kukumimi-san!"

You had no idea whether to laugh or not, so you just give him an apologetic shrug and walk over to the center of the room..

* * *

"Ve! There you are! I was wondering where you'd run off to. I thought I saw Germany earlier, but I couldn't find him.."

Romano seemed to have calmed down, and was assisting Japan.

"Italy, may I ask who this is?"

You take a good look at Japan. You'd seen him once or twice before, but this time he seemed very tired.

"Ah! She's a really good friend of mine and Fratello's! Look, she's really nice! And she gave us these cool lunchboxes!"

..

"Hajimemashite. I am Nihon, but you may call me Honda Kiku if it pleases you."

Japan bows cordially. You notice that he seems a little thinner than his uniform allowed.

..

"I thank you for your concern. My home has not been doing well lately.. But do not let that concern you. I am here to.. party.. with my friends tonight."

You really think he should be getting some rest.

..

"I think she's right, Nihon.. You should sit down. You've been through a lot lately."

Japan smiles at both of you, and relents. Romano gives him a pat on the back.

"Might I ask what relationship you have with Italy-san?"

Italy answers for you quickly.

"She's a really good friend of mine! I accidentally ruined her blazer and we became friends and we ate pasta and everything. Oh, and she even filled in for me when I was supposed to go on errands with Germany! And she helped Spain as well!"

Japan gives you a light chuckle.

"Is that so? Thank you for taking good care of my friends. I would be grateful if you were to continue doing so."

He bows slightly, and you sort of bow back. This was awkward..

"Nihon! There you are, aru!"

"Nihon-hyung! We've been looking for you!"

You see a pair of Asians run over to your table. One was wearing a bright read china shirt, and the other a set of blue and white robes. Both Asians had large, billowing sleeves.

"China? Korea?"

"Sorry we're late, Italy-hyung! We had to prepare some things."

"-pant- I was worried -pant- aru!"

"When we'd heard about Japan, Hyung practically flipped!"

Korea patted Japan on the back.

"Don't worry! Yong Soo will be right here to back you up! We actually rely on you pretty heavily for trade so.."

"Stop that, Yong Soo! Can't you see he's exhausted? Let him eat!"

China takes out some herbal medicine from his pack You find his concern very touching and smile.

"Oh, Ita-chan! I have your gifts here too. Here you go, aru!"

"Grazie, China!"

Italy happily opens his. It's a Shinatty plushie! Romano received a tomato-shaped pillow.

"Oh, this looks nice. Thanks, China."

You look at the pillow for a bit.. Hmm. Maybe..

"Korea! Do you have presents as well?"

"Of course! Presents originated in Korea!"

Korea takes a pair of oddly-shaped packages out of his sleeves and hands each one to a brother.

"They're Korean deliciacies!"

"Korean? Wow! Did you make them yourself?"

Italy began opening his. Romano seemed more cautious and inspected the packaging first.

"Of course I made them myself, da ze! They're a Korean specialty!"

"Really. I'm just wondering about how spicy these are."

Romano frowned.

"They're not spicy at all, Romano-hyung! Give them a try!"

Romano seemed suspicious, then opened the packaging. It contained some Korean snacks.

"Ve~! These look pretty yummy."

Italy takes what appeared to be a normal rice cracker and put it in his mouth. Romano follows suit.

"Mm! I like how it's sweet on the outside, but salty on the inside!"

"Yeah! This is pretty good! And the subtly spicy flavor that seems to be getting stronger.."

"F-fratello, I think I need a glass of water.."

Both Italy brothers began tearing up and turning red. Yep, the food was spicy.

Korea pokes you as the two brothers scramble loudly for water.

"Pst! Unnie! Prussia told me that he is waiting for you and Canada-hyung, whoever that is, outside the ballroom. I'll keep Nihon-hyung busy for you!"

..

"No need to thank me, da ze~ Covert operations originated in Korea! Just go and help your friend!"

You nod and head towards the ballroom doors. You see Prussia peeking in through them.

"There you are! I was wondering what was taking Yong Soo so long."

..

"Canada managed..? That's awesome! I've gotta thank him later! Maybe make him some pancakes."

..

"Oh, right. I managed to trick West into looking for my present for Italy. Told him I'd lost it somewhere.."

You look through the doors to find Germany assisting the Italy brothers, but noticeably scanning the room.

Wouldn't that stress him out more..?

"Kesesese. Nii-san's got something up his sleeve that'll totally make up for it. I'll trap Feli in his hotel room later.. Have you thought of anything for Japan?"

You relay your observations to him.

"Hmm. That's to be expected, with what happened and all. You think he needs medicine?"

China can take care of that..

..

"You're right. What he needs is something to help him get rest. Maybe a dakimakura?"

He might already have one of those..

"Hmm. But a pillow sounds good, right? Maybe we can get him one of those self-shaping pillows! They're really cool, they mould around your head and support your neck and stuff! Some brands actually have herb packs in 'em, you microwave 'em then pop them into the pillows and it ends up smelling all good! Plus since it's warm it helps with muscle pain!"

You wonder how Prussia knows all this stuff.

..

"Ah, I got Austria one after he was complaining of neck problems. I have no idea why that rich boy refuses to spend his cash on anything. He's been using the same clothes he wore in the 1960's, would you believe that? Good thing they're mostly suits!"

..

"You wouldn't believe what a fashion sense that guy has got. The only thing that's changed about him are his glasses. Cooler and cooler, his glasses! Then again I haven't seen him in any of the more interesting styles. I wonder what Roddy would look like in a Ray-Ban.."

Pfft! The very idea made you laugh.

"It's be a real treat to see, I'm sure! Better suggest that to Hungary. Anyway. So we getting Kiku a therapy pillow or what?"

You can't think of anything else more suitable at the moment.

"Good! Thanks for the help. Oh, before I go look for Mattie.."

Prussia gives you a bear hug and a light kiss on the forehead.

!

"I've been wanting to do that all evening! You're really cute, you know. Not just now, but at the meeting earlier as well!"

You kinda liked it actually.. But you were still annoyed! It didn't help that Prussia was smirking! How did Hungary put up with this guy?

..

"Kesesesese! What, all flustered from a little kiss? The awesome me can't let Francey have all the fun!"

Prussia cackled and darted into the ballroom.

Come back here..!

Pushing open the doors, you run after him with the full intent of knocking him into a candelabra or something else that would hurt.

..

You bump into something soft.

"Eh? What is this..?"

You look up to see a tall, pale skinned man with very light gray-brown hair. He had large, calm purple eyes, a very prominent nose, and a curious little smile..

..

Russia..?

All the color drained from your face, and you felt your legs rooted to the spot. You'd heard a lot of scary things about Russia, and judging from how he acted at meetings, there was a good chance that most of them were true.

"Oh! Hello. I don't think we've met before..?"

Russia smiles at you. This doesn't really make you feel any better.. But you calmed down slightly.

Prussia, who had ducked behind a confued Sweden, looked back at where you were supposed to have chased him. Seeing Russia, his conceited face turned into one of panic.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see the Baltic countries enter the ballroom. All of them froze except for the ever shivering Latvia and gave you looks of concern.

"You are very pretty. May I have your name?"

You hesitantly introduce yourself.

..

"That is a wonderful name! I will be sure to remember that. I am Russia, also known as Ivan Braginski in some circles."

You notice that his name wasn't pronounced "Eye-van", but "Ee-van".

"H-hi, Ivan!"

Prussia appeared next to you.

"Ah! Gilbert! Good evening! I'm happy to see you in high spirits as always, da~"

You notice that Prussia seemed to be even more scared of Russia then you were at the moment. Why did he come back..?

"Sorry t-to bother you, but right now I'm in charge of this little lady here! We're kind of busy at the moment, s-so I'll just be taking her back now!"

Saying that, he firmly grabbed you by the hand. You grab him back tightly, not knowing what to expect..

"Is that so..? Well, if you must, I won't stop you."

Russia turns to address you.

"If there is anything you need, you can speak to me any time. I will assist you to the best of my abilities."

..

"When I say anything, I mean anything, da! In any case, I hope we can become good friends!"

You don't want to think about what 'anything' meant in Russia's case. Either way, he didn't seem to have any bad intentions toward you..

..

"Good~ Let us have another chat like this, okay?"

"Okay, she will! Come on, fraulein, we have work to do!"

Prussia half leads, half drags you away from Russia. The big country waves at you, and you wave weakly back. You notice the Baltics heave sighs of relief, but resume high tension when Russia's attention turns to them.

* * *

The two of you sit down at a table on the other side of the room.

"Mein Gott. That was scary. Are you all right?"

..

"I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting a random encounter with a boss character all of a sudden. I put you in danger. That was wrong of me."

Prussia bows his head.

You shake off the Russia's-scary-aura-aftereffect and give him a pat on the back. He DID just come back to rescue you from Russia after all!

"Eh? You're not mad? That's.. That's pretty awesome of you, actually! You know, I think I really really like you now."

Prussia gives you a wide, Italy Veneziano-worthy grin. You smile back.

"So, can I give you another kiss?"

NO.

"Eh? But I just saved your ass from Russia! Come on, show me some gratitude!"

Just.. Just no, Prussia.

Even if it did sound kind of nice.

Prussia was about to retort when a frying pan slammed flat on his head.

"**OW!**"

"Gil! Stop harassing the poor girl!"

You look up to see a beautiful woman with long, chocolate colored locks. She was wearing a very stylish emerald green dress and a long light green shawl.

It was Hungary. You were glad to see a female face..

"Why is it that every time we get together, you have to hit me with that thing..?"

Hungary ignored him.

"Hello there! I don't believe we've met. I'm Elizaveta Hedervary, the country of Hungary. More importantly though, _Gilbert_, Canada is waiting for you at the Allied Forces table."

Hungary faces you and smiles brightly.

"I'm sorry that Gil is such an idiot. It's not his fault though, he was born this way."

"I was not!"

"Really? No one can tell the difference. Are you going, or not?"

Prussia rubs his head and gets up.

"Okay, okay! Yeesh."

He flashes you a last smile before running off to find Canada.

You have to admit though, Prussia's got one hell of a heart.

"He does, doesn't he? A heart of molten gold. It's tarnished in places, but gold is gold. Don't tell him I said that though. He won't let me live it down for the next century!"

Hungary sat down where Prussia was earlier and looked you square in the face.

"Well then. Nice to see I'm not the only girl at this party! Taiwan isn't coming, Bel's in the kitchen fixing the cake and Liechtenstein's under lock and key at Vash's again. So! Are you that girl Italy's been talking about all evening?"

Italy's been talking about what..?

"He's only been telling everyone in a 10-foot radius what an amazing and wonderful friend you are. Spain isn't helping! He's saying that you've brought him and Romano closer together. Of course, dear Lovi denies it. And for once, Germany agrees with Italy! Although I think it's just the beer and the fatigue talking. But really, _Ludwig_ of all people speaks highly of you. I simply must know more!"

You decide to unwind as a waiter sets a pair of drinks in front of the two of you. Hungary's presence was a refreshing change from Prussia's sharp aura.

"So, tell me all about your shopping trip with Italy! I know it's nice in Venice, I've been there more times than I can count, but I want to hear it from you!"

Hungary gives you her best curious expression. You smile and begin to tell your story.

~End~

* * *

The party was tiring to write.. There wasn't really shopping in this one, but I hope you enjoyed!

And with this, the Bad Friends Trio are concluded! Looks like the rest of the Allies should be next~ Which one, though? Look forward to a certain Allied power and the end of the ItaKyoudai party in the next chapter of Shopping with Hetalia!

(I sound like one of those episode previews at the end of anime.. Also, since my internship's starting next week, the updates will be slower~ Need to do research for the next few chapters too!)

Time to relax with a nice drink. I'll go make myself some milk tea now.

Thanks for reading!

-czieskara


	7. Russia

And I'm back after so long.. Internship nearly killed me ;w; School's already started again. Dang trimestral system. But who cares as long as I get allowance..

Oh, and I want to try Castlevania Judgement. There's someone I want to cosplay. The clock sword looks hard..

Thanks to everyone that's been reading so far. Sorry I've kept you all waiting..

Guess who's next then~ ^J^ Well we'll be shopping for something a little.. different this time :3

Here then is chapter seven!

* * *

**Shopping With Hetalia**

**Chapter 7 - Russia**

After the aftermath stemming from the Italian birthday party, mainly Swiss- and Austrian-generated, you finally settle down in your hotel room for some good, long rest. You'd barely had time to think after so much activity. There was way too much going on in politics.. Thankfully, Japan was back on his feet. That was always a bonus.

You were absentmindedly wondering what Italy was doing when your phone rang.

..

"**YO!**"

The loud noise took you aback.

"Hello? Hey? Am I speaking to the right person here? Hey!"

It was America. Only he spoke so casually to everyone he met, including foreign dignitaries. You'd think he'd have learned some common courtesy from his current boss.. But you weren't in a position to complain. He was pretty much _the_ world's biggest power aside from China and Russia..

..

"Ahaha! So I got the right number after all! Hey, listen. Italy and Romano told me you were the one to go to for shopping and stuff. So! I need your expertise!"

America? The number one consumer country? Asking for help with shopping, of all things? From **you**?

"Well, the next world conference is gonna be held in sunny California! I've arranged a free day for all the countries to go have fun at the beach. Of course, they'll all be paying for their own stuff! Tourism and all that!"

Figures. Still, what sort of help exactly does he need..?

..

"Ahahaha! This is where you come in! I need your help to buy BEACH WEAR!"

What?

..

"You heard me right! This hero needs you to help put together the ultimate beach package! Beach shorts, flip flops, SPF, you name it! In this case, since I'm asking for your help, the bill's on me, so feel free to pick up some stuff for yourself. Gotta be good to your people, you know!"

Somehow all your shopping trips had subconsciously developed the innate shopping sense that lies in every woman. Romano's trip in particular had been pretty helpful. You began discussing options..

"Whoa whoa whoa! Hold on there, lady!"

..

"I'm glad you're so eager about this, but the beach stuff isn't for me. Of course a hero's got to have clothes for all occasions, right? Swim and surfwear included! We've got all climates back home, gotta be prepared!"

You had a bad feeling about this..

..

"Huh? Who's it for? One of my good pals! He doesn't get a whole lot of sunshine at his place so he's kinda clueless when it comes to beach stuff."

Answer the darn question, America!

"Fine, fine! Don't be so darn imaptient. Not good for a cute girl! Anyway, it's for Russia..."

America continued to babble on, but you'd pretty much spaced out after hearing Russia's name.

Swimwear.

For **Russia.**Of all people.

This was going to be... interesting.

* * *

After acquiring the numbers of all three Baltics and one very enthusiastic Belarus ("YOU. MUST. TAKE. PICTURES."), you were feeling confident that even the biggest nation on the planet couldn't surprise you. They'd each sent you reports on what to do if Russia decided to do this or that, notes on what kinds of places to avoid (dark alleys, for example), a special report from Lithuania with instructions on how to evade Belarus.. In your travel pack you were carrying a taser, two bottles of pepper spray, several emergency numbers on speed dial on your mobile phone, a satellite phone, a tracking device on your person as ordered by Germany and Romano, a spy camera earring with gps tracking borrowed from Belarus...

Now all that was left was to wait. You were sitting sleepily at the world conference, the important bits already having been discussed, reiterated, debated and taken note of. Italy was sitting next to you, equally sleepy, with his head resting on his elbows. Germany, who was sitting on Italy's other side, was keeping a close but somehow lazy eye on him, gently nudging him awake if he dozed off. Prussia was nowhere to be found..

"As I was saying, America, you shouldn't be poking your nose in other people's business so much.."

England and America were bickering as usual. Lithuania catches your eye and smiles shyly at you and Italy.

"Ve~ Why is Lithuania smiling at us?"

..

"Oh, I didn't know you knew each other! That's good~ Making new friends is the best. Right, Germany?"

Germany nodded ever so slightly, trying to keep his attention on the meeting. France had joined the discussion, which generally meant that things would soon start getting out of hand.

Italy took one of Germany's arms into his own and used it as a pillow. The larger nation stiffened. You quietly giggled.

"Mmn. Germany is the best pillow.."

"I-italy.."

At about this time, England and America decided to wage war on one another, and the nice little moment between the two Axis Powers was shattered.

**"YOU BLOODY WANKER!"**

"YOU ENGLISH CRUMPET!"

"Mon dieu, how is that even an insult? I know his food tastes bad, but.."

"Shut up, you lousy hairy pervert!"

"Hah, you're one to talk, England! Pfft. Perverted eyebrows maniac."

"YOU GREASY, FAT-"

**"I AM NOT FAT!"**

"With all the burgers you eat, how can you not be fat, mon ami..?"

"Shut up, you ugly old geezer!"

**"I AM NEITHER UGLY NOR OLD, YOU UNCOUTH-"**

Germany sighed and prepared to step in to stop them. Italy, slightly put off that his pillow had been taken away, gave you a sheepish smile and decided to continue his siesta next to the sleeping Greece. You took this as your cue to start arranging your things for the impending danger later..

You felt a light tap on your soldier. It was Russia. You nearly fell out of your seat in surprise.

"Hello! I was told that someone would help me acquire, er, swimwear later. I had no idea it was you.. I was expecting a man, really.. Ehehe~"

You reply as carefully as you possibly can.

..

"Hmm? Oh no, no, I am sure that America chose you to fit my expectations. I was thinking that it might be a little awkward, that is all, you being a woman.. and.. well.."

..

"Eh.. You see.. I'm not very comfortable with..swimwear.. in general. I personally think it shows too much skin.. Where I live it is quite cold, so we do not swim often, and I myself do not find it particularly enjoyable.. I am, um, a little large, as you can see.."

You understood a bit. You had some insecurities with your body as well..

Wait. Russia, being insecure about his body..? This definitely wasn't in any of the reports the Baltics had given you.

"It would not be very dignified of me to refuse an invitation from America though.. And my last set of swimwear.. was.. stolen.. Although I do not think you could call it swimwear.."

Stolen..? Who would steal Russia's-

Oh. _Her._

"Well, may I know what you have planned for the afternoon?"

..

You'd asked around and found that not too far from the conference building was a fairly nice seaside mall that was the go-to for swimwear in that area. That was where you were planning to bring Russia. It had the added perk of being close to your embassy, so if things went horribly wrong, you had a place to run to..

"That sounds good. Oh, I was informed that you might also be making your own purchases. Here~!"

Russia handed you an extremely familiar-looking red credit card. You'd seen way too many of these than you normally should. Wait a second, why was Russia giving you one..?

"Look, it has your name on it! Hmm, so this is your legal name.. Eh? Why am I giving you a card?"

..

"These are special cards~ Each country has one, and their representatives do too. It's to take care of necessaru expenses. You don't have one yet, do you?"

You hadn't had a credit card in your entire life. You didn't think you could afford one..

"Well there you are then! You don't have to return that to me, it's yours now! The government will take care of the expenses. Although I have no idea how much the limit on that card is~ Ehehe~"

So this is what America meant by everything was on him..?

"It looks like the meeting will be ending soon. I must go relay some final instructions to my comrades. Will it be all right with you if we meet up later this afternoon?"

It was fine. You'd planned for most of this beforehand..

"That is good, da! As long as it's just us. I don't want anyone else with us.."

Russia shuddered for a second. You hadn't thought he was capable of such a thing.

Then you remembered Belarus.

You made a mental note to get rid of the earring..

* * *

You met up with Russia at the lobby at around 2:30. He was fastening a small message to one of France's Pierres.

..

"Oh, hello again~ Ah, I'd forgotten to give France a message earlier, so I borrowed one of his pigeons. This will only take a moment."

The bird seemed to check if the message had been attached properly by shaking its leg. Satisfied, it gave a salutatory coo and flew off.

"Those are so convenient.. I wish we had those at my home."

..

"Have you been to Russia? It can get quite cold. Birds generally migrate to our country when it is summer in others.. But even then, there aren't as many as there are in say, Italy's place.."

You had no idea Russia was interested in birds.. but then you remembered Lithuania's advice.

_"Ivan does tend to rabble on sometimes.. It's one of his more endearing qualities. Keep your guard up though, he can change very quickly!"_

"It makes me wish I could simply make all the warm countries become one with me, da~"

There we go. This was more typical of him.

"Well, shall we be off then? Please do lead the way~"

Estonia had arranged your transportation beforehand. A pretty white sedan was waiting for the two of you just outside the building lobby, and you slid in the back seat. Russia clambered in after you, and you gave the driver instructions. As the car drove up the street, you could see nothing but blue skies and green trees with huge leaves everywhere.

"It's so bright here in America's place.. And it's quite hot as well. I don't come here to California often.."

..

"Mm. It is much colder at my home than it is in most of Europe. We all wear warm clothing.."

You notice that even in the early summer heat, Russia is still wearing his overcoat and scarf.

..

"Eh? No, I don't find these clothes too warm~ This is actually quite breezy. Did you ever wonder why all those people in the desert wear loose robes as clothing? When you move around it becomes quite cool~"

..

"Hehe~ But the desert is too warm, I do not wish to stay for very long there. America's place is so big.. He has deserts and snowy places all on one continent. I recall that there was this politican that claimed she could see my home from hers.. Well, Alaska is quite close~"

Lithuania was right. It was hard to catch up to Russia in a conversation.

"Ne, where do you live? Is it nice there?"

You didn't really have a lot to be proud about. Your country was pretty normal by world standards, the food wasn't too bad, you had moderate seasons with no extremes.. You'd grown up in a relatively normal family, but you'd left home early to shake off your parents. Right now you were sort of struggling to make a living in an apartment you barely lived in because of your job, which essentially meant you were more at home inside an airplane than you were in your actual home.

"I see.. Your job must be quite hectic. And I've heard that your home has been having some problems as well.. Would you like for my assistance? I could make a phone call.."

This time, it was Estonia's advice you heeded.

_"If he offers you anything, DON'T ACCEPT. If you are curious, you can ask, but if it has anything to do with politics or international relations, under no circumstances should you be discussing anything without the presence of a third party!"_

_.._

_"Trust me on this one. Russia is deceptively kind. And if he asks you to become one with him, REFUSE. It's gotten people into more trouble than good."_

You politely refuse. Have faith in our bosses!

"Eh.. All right then. But I do think that your home is a nice place though. Not too warm, not too cold.. I'm a little jealous."

You decide to steer the conversation into more useful territory.

"Hm? E-eh? My old swim attire..?"

..

"Well.. I've always swum in a t-shirt and shorts.. I'm uncomfortable with showing my body.. The last time I tried, Natalya.."

He shuddered again. That was the second time today. Maybe the big, scary nation wasn't so scary after all. And the becoming-one-with-everyone business aside, he seemed to be quite nice, actually..

"I do not wish to remember it.. Thankfully, my older sister has Belarus preoccupied back home, so I think we can allow for conventional wear.."

Russia seemed uneasy. You decided to share your own insecurities. You've never exactly looked good in swimwear..

..

"Heh? Really? I can't imagie someone like you having problems. You looked quite pretty at the party a while back.. I think you would look good wearing anything, da."

Russia flashed you a genuine smile, which somehow made you feel quite happy.

Then you remembered that it was Russia giving you compliments.

..

"I mean it.. I know I am not the most popular country in the world.. But I do mean it when I pay compliments. And I truly think that you are very attractive. Even Prussia could not keep his eyes off you."

..

"If you do not believe me, ask America. Or England. I'm sure they will both agree with me, da? Don't ask France. France thinks everyone is beautiful. Except England, maybe. Hehe~"

..

Russia put his arm around your shoulder, scaring the hell out of you. You jumped about an inch in your seat.

"Ah! Did I startle you? I apologize, I did not mean to frighten you.."

You weren't so much frightened as you were simply off guard. Lithuania's advice on skinship hadn't really helped.

_"Don't let him do whatever you wouldn't want France to do to you! If you ever get uncomfortable, tell him. Russia isn't so bad, he's quite considerate, really. If he refuses to back off though, you might want to have one of those emergency numbers on hand.."_

You were feeling very very small next to him, especially with his arm around you. It was somehow comforting, and you remembered when you'd sat next to Germany in his car when you were running errands with him.

"You smell nice, da."

Russia gently laid his head atop yours. Something in you told you to trust him, and you relaxed as he put his other arm around you.

"You are not scared stiff like the others, too. You are exactly like Italy says.. Would it be all right if we became friends?"

The car jolted to a halt.

"Here we are. Seaside City!"

You breathe a sigh of relief and squirm out of Russia's gentle but firm hug. You both looked out the window to see a beautiful mall complex that opened up to the sea. You noticed a slight look of disappointment flash on Russia's face, before it was replaced by a look of childlike wonder.

"Oh, we have arrived..? This place looks beautiful, da! And there are so many people."

You tip the driver and get out of the car after Russia, who was stretching his limbs. You could feel people staring at him in his overcoat and scarf when everyone else was pretty much wearing swimwear and summer dresses.

..

"Hm? No, I assure you, I am quite comfortable with my current attire.."

You decided to take Latvia's advice for this situation.

_"I may not look like it, but I'm very observant. If there's one advantage you have, it's the fact that you're a girl, and a pretty one too.. Hehe."_

_.._

_"Not sure what I mean? Well, Russia has two sisters, as you may well know, and he is comparatively.. civil.. to both of them. Ukraine is just evading him because of political reasons, and Belarus is just.. you know."_

_.._

_"Mm. I understand your concerns. Russia is actually very polite and can be quite the gentleman. He is especially so towards those with whom he has favors. I have a feeling that you'll be able to have some pull on him."_

_.._

_"I understand that this advice might sound weird coming from me, but.. Please remember this if you have any problems with his behavior. There are limits too, but I think you'll have the upper hand. Please take good care of our Ivan.."_

You grabbed Russia's hand and dragged him to the nearest clothing store. If America says he wants the full package, then he gets the full package, dammit!

You paused for a moment, realizing that you were beginning to sound like Romano.

"Eh? Eh? This is not a boutique that sells swimwear...!"

* * *

You proudly walk out of the store wearing a pretty black and white sundress, with a matching bow headband in your hair. You'd traded your normal slip-on flats for a pair of trendy ribboned high wedge espadrilles, and you'd managed to get a pair of chunky sunglasses on sale to boot! Ah, the power of credit cards.. Simply standing outside the store made several men turn your way.

Hm. Spending time with the Italy brothers seemed to be paying off in the fashion department.

Russia was a different story entirely.

"P-please give me back my clothes!"

He was wearing a newly purchased short-sleeved checkered polo top, in the colors of the Russian flag, with dark khaki knee-length shorts and a pair of blue Crocs. The only thing you hadn't managed to wrangle off him in the dressing room was his scarf, which was billowing in the sea breeze. You had gotten a notch taller in your new shoes, but it was still hard to look him in the eye.

Especially when he was shaking like a leaf.

"Did you h-hear what I just said? Please.."

This new Russia seemed interesting. Who knew he was afraid to show his skin?

..

"I'm serious.. please give those back.. I don't want people seeing.."

You notice that he seemed to be trying to cover his neck in particular. Russia gave you a dark look that suggested that it was something you should NOT be asking about.

Your new outfit seemed to be giving you insane amounts of confidence. You give Russia a determined look of your own right back..

..and you were more than surprised to find a genuine look of hurt in his eyes.

"I.. I do not like this.. I know America did put you up to this.. But I do not.."

Is there anything I should know about?

You didn't want to know all the details. You were pretty sure that he'd kill you if you did. If there was one thing you learned from the Baltics, it was to not test the limits.

Russia simply looked away, in the direction of the sea, and sat on a shaded bench.

..

You figured that this wasn't going anywhere and decided to survey some good places to find swimwear. You firmly tell Russia to stay put, and take his silence as a positive response.

* * *

Walking around the mall, you find that most of the stores carried swimsuits of the I-must-show-as-much-skin-as-I-can-without-my-vital-regions-hanging-out variety. The more conservative of these were the more well-known brands, but even then these were sports brands like Nike and Adidas. You were very sure that Russia was not the Speedo sort of man. There was however a store that seemed to be right in the middle of designer and sport, and carried not only swimming trunks, but also had board shorts and shirts made with swimsuit material that seemed to be for surfing purposes.

If Russia was so reluctant to show skin, he could at least wear one of these proper surf shirts instead of a regular old t-shirt. After some checking, you also found that the store carrried clothing in huge sizes. You were a little glad that a lot of America's people were overweight..

You were definitely sure that Russia would probably get mad at you when you returned, so you decided to get him a little something nice on the way back.

_"Childlike is the word that best describes him."  
_

You stuffed the clothes you'd both been wearing earlier in your travel pack and went to look for a certain shop...

* * *

Russia was still sulking on the bench when you returned with your findings.

"Well? Did you find me something more revea.."

Russia's eyes lit up when he saw the pair of triple-decker ice cream cones you held in your hands. You'd had difficulty bringing them back to where he'd been sitting, but now it seemed completely worth it.

"Ice cream~! Wow, there's so much! You got this for me? Thank you!"

He carefully took one of the cones from you and dug in with delight.

..

"Mmm~ How did you know I liked plain flavors? I do not particularly like the strange ice cream flavors America invents.."

..

Truthfully, this had been in the notes the Baltics had sent you. You simply shrugged.

"I guess you are a nice person after all.. Even if you did take my clothes."

You were now sure that Russia's discomfort in wearing skin-showing clothing wasn't just because of his size.

..

A vague look briefly graced Russia's face.

"If you must know.. I wasn't always the powerful country you see today. I too was once under rule by others. And I still have the scars to show it.."

Oh. Darn. You'd practically offended him earlier then. Now you were glad you hadn't managed to steal his scarf.

Russia paused to bite a bit off his cone.

"It would have been fine if I had gotten these from a battle.. Prussia and the Netherlands have many scars.. You'd be surprised at China as well.. But these are not.. Things I wish to be proud of."

You instinctively put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. Every man has his own battles.

"Thank you.. I am sure that the Baltics did not tell you about that, da?"

..!

"Ahaha~ You did not expect me to believe you would march into battle unprepared, did you? Yes, I know you consulted with the Baltics. And my sister. I am especially glad that you did not take her advice.."

..

"Mm. But I must give you credit. A lesser man would have crumbled before me now. I trust you will keep my scars a secret, yes? And like I was about to say earlier, I will not accept it if you choose clothes that show skin.."

..

"Oh? You have found me a shirt for swimming in? Hmm. I think I woud like to see that. But let us take our time, this ice cream is hard to finish."

Russia stands first, then helps you up. It was extremely difficult to eat a three-flavor ice cream cone without it all melting or falling to thee ground, and you reminded yourself never to try that again.

As the two of you strode throught the mall, you noticed that Russia's sour expression had softened into one of mild amusement.

"I did not expect you to be so bold, da? I wonder which of those three told you that you were allowed to manhandle me as you did earlier."

..

"You have nothing to fear~ I understand that this is part of your job. I will not hold anything against you. But you should be careful in the future~ Not everyone has patience~"

A dark aura surrounded him. You shudder slightly, and concentrate on your ice cream.

"But you are brave. Braver than Prussia by far, I think."

Eh..? How exactly..?

"Oh, in that you are a comrade to be trusted.. One that will not back down in the face of danger. I wish I had someone like that.."

But didn't he have the Baltics..?

"They're different.."

Russia finished off his cone (that was fast!) and smiled sadly at you.

"It is different to be feared than to be adored. People like Prussia are lucky.."

He looked down at his sky blue Crocs. Of all the new clothes he was wearing, these were the only ones he himself had picked out. You found this kind of cute..

"But I suppose that yes, I am lucky to have the Baltics.. They are quite reliable, yes? Especially Lithuania~ Estonia can be troublesome sometimes though."

..

"I wonder what if would be like to have you as a friend.. I don't have very many friends. China and America may be powerful nations lie me, but we are not very close.."

You realize that he'd been looking straight at you when he said that, and you blushed a bit.

"I'm jealous.. The Italy brothers get to spend so much time with a nice person like you.."

You were about to reply when Russia looked away.

"Is this the store? It seems quite homely, yes?"

He smiled cutely and walked into the boutique. You quickly finished your ice cream and ran inside to find him looking at scuba gear.

"What are these? Are these for the beach? Oh, they're for diving.."

You were glad for the distraction, and waved to get the attention of a cheerful-looking store attendant in a Hawaiian shirt and very short beach shorts. You handed her several sets of swimwear you'd picked out in your earlier survey, and requested them in Russia's size.

"I guess these will not be so useful.. America said we would only going to the beach, yes? Oh, do you have swimwear for yourself?"

You'd been so preoccupied keeping Russia entertained that the very notion had escaped your mind. Before you could reply, Russia loomed over you with a mischievous expression.

"You don't, do you? I thought so, da~ Latvia and Estonia forget their chores when I tell them to do certain things as well~"

The attendant in the Hawaiian shirt returned with Russia's gear.

"How about I pick you some suits then~? This store seems to have quite the conservative selection~ We wouldn't want you running around wearing something that looks like a string in the presence of France-kun.."

Russia's smile had turned into a positively evil smirk, and you realized that this was payback for earlier.

_"His smile can mean one of two things. One is that he intends to do something with you, and the other is that he WILL."_

"Come on~ It's my turn to dress you~"

* * *

The first suit that you (forcibly) tried on was a rather nice black little one piece. It was more sporty than trendy, with tasteful grey lines running down the front, and a pretend-ribbon design at the back. You hesitantly walk out of the fitting room to find Russia struggling to put on one of the sports tops..

You're supposed to take off your scarf first!

"Eh? But... People will.."

You should have put it on in the fitting room!

"Oh, that's right! It completely slipped my mind. Hehe~"

The attendant snickered, and returned to reading a fashion magazine. You begin instructing Russia on how to wear the tops, which had something like a smaller version of a turtle neck. This one in particular was a white one with grey race back stripes and red trimmings. This was what Russia had been struggling with.

He seemed to be distracted however..

"You have a very nice figure~"

You stiffened, blushing. The way he'd said it completely reminded you of Prussia.

"Hmm, the swimsuit looks good on you. Are you comfortable with it? Oh, but I think something more colorful would suit you.."

Before you could say a word, Russia picked out a nice stripey two-piece and handed it to you.

"Please try this one on. I do not think this top would suit me either.. It makes me look like one of America's superheros.. But I appreciate the fact that it covers my neck."

Russia gave you a trusting smile.

"Shall we both change then?"

The blue and white striped two piece had a chunky bikini for a top and boy shorts for a bottom. The material they were made of seemed to be more similar to the surf shirts you'd gotten for Russia than most swim suits. The top basically looked like a tube with straps, which clung nicely to your shoulders. The bottom had nice coverage, and seemed to enhance your butt a little. Surprisingly, you could move with ease. You were somehow glad that it wasn't France that you were shopping with this time around.

This time, Russia had managed to put the surf shirt on properly. The one he was wearing seemed like a second skin, in a very nice black with white trimmings, and short blue sleeves which rounded out his large shoulders. He hadn't changed out of the beach shorts you'd picked out for him, which were white with black cracks for a design. Whatever insecurities he had about his body were unfounded; he had a very well-built chest, a toned midsection, and from what you'd seen so far, a very good ass..

All in all, a good fit. Russia seemed to approve of your suit as well.

"Mm~ You look very good. Will you be taking that? Ehehe. I'm glad I was the first one to see you in that suit~"

Was it just your imagination, or was Russia being..?

"Oh no, please do not get the wrong idea. I was not trying to be lewd.. But you look quite cute in that."

With that, Russia looked down at his feet and began to twiddle his fingers. It made him look like an overgrown child, especially with the Crocs.

"I do not have many female acquaintances.. Belarus scares them away. I think girls are very nice, but I seldom spend time with any.. Hehe. That is why I was looking forward to this afternoon.."

You decide to forgive Russia, and tiptoe to give him a pat on the head.

"Mm?"

Russia gave you a questioning look.

"Does this mean that we are friends now?"

_"Friends? Well.. If he asks, accept. There's no real disadvantage to that. No one picks on Russia's friends, at least no one with a deathwish. Even Belarus thinks twice.."_

..

"Just be on your guard if you know he's in the vicinity. He can be very.. startling."

_Startling?_

"Oh, he pops out of bushes and the like. Completely scared the hell out of Lithuania the first time."

Estonia laughed heartily.

"Don't worry about it. You were in more danger with France. And that's saying something."

You take a deep breath and nod.

Instantly, Russia smothered you in a big bear hug and lifted you a few feet into the air.

"Yay! That makes me very very very happy, da~! I promise I will treat you well, I will buy you sweets if you wish, I hope that we can.. What does America call it? Hang out..?"

You wriggle out of the hug and tried to regain your composure. You weren't Latvia, dammit!

"Ehehe.. I'm sorry. I could not resist. I haven't made a new friend in such a long time!"

Russia was positively beaming.

* * *

You handed the attendant your shiny red card as you dropped all your purchases onto the counter. Fortunately the shop also sold various skin products, in particular an excellent sunscreen that according to Estonia stuck to your skin like glue. You'd also picked out a nice purple snorkel mask set for Russia, and a pair of light blue goggles for yourself.

"Yay~"

Russia seemed very happy to have made a new friend, and had latched himself onto your arm. If only he weren't so clingy!

"Are we finished yet? There's still plenty of time in the day! May we go look around the mall some more?"

The attendant handed you your purchases in separate bags. You set your travel pack on the floor and took something out of it. The ice cream hadn't been the only surprise you had for Russia..

"Mm? What is that? I can't see."

Russia's head bobbed left and right as you stuffed his old clothes and newly purchased gear into..

"..is that a bag of some sort? I usually carry only messen.. ger.. bags.."

You proudly held up a large unisex tote bag with a giant sunflower on it. Russia's eyes went wide.

"..but this time I am willing to make an exception, da! Thank you for the present~!"

Russia gave you another big hug. He wasn't so bad now that he'd warmed up to you. You were pretty sure you could get used to this..

..until you felt Russia stiffen.

"...don't turn around, but I think.. just now.."

You hold very still. You managed to catch a tiny corner of a navy blue skirt in your peripheral vision.

"It seems.. my sister has caught up with me.. I think we are done for today's s-shopping.."

You nod ever so slightly and tighten your grip on your travel pack. Your eyes met Russia's for a moment. You saw neither fear, anger or his usual childlike innocence.

What you saw was a look of crazy excitement.

"I feel braver with a friend around.. But Belarus is still.. I do not think we should linger. He.. Hehe..."

On the count of three..

"Dva.. odin.."

RUN!

Russia grabs your hand as the two of you dash out of the store, running for your lives and laughing all the way.

~End~

* * *

This fic was inspired.. By my recent attempts to look good in swimwear ;w; stupid sexy female friends in their bikinis.

But of course Russia would look good in whatever, right?

-listens to Vampire Killer-

Next.. Beach party? Another Allied power maybe? Not sure. Suggestions welcome ^o^

Thanks for reading!

-czieskara


	8. China, aru

Lots of people liked Russia's chapter ^o^ Thank you all for the support. I tried to make him as friendly as possible while staying in character..

School is a pest. =w= I apologize for not updating in a while. China isn't really my favorite character, plus I wrote myself into a couple of corners.. This chapter will be long as a result~

Expect one or two more within the month. Term break~!

I have been watching Tiger and Bunny recently... Kotetsu-san is nice .w. I like him.

Anyway, on to the next chapter!

* * *

**Shopping With Hetalia**

**Chapter 8 - China**

You'd managed to cram your new suit and the sleeveless summer dress Italy had bought you in your travel pack. The amout of things that Italy and America had requested you to bring was unusual (three rubber duck inner tube floaters, an air pump, seven beach balls, three towels..). He'd even given you a strange list of grocery items to acquire, but given that your job was basically to pander to the nations' needs, you couldn't complain.

Thankfully there was still room for your stuff. You made a mental note to go buy new bags soon..

Suddenly, the hotel phone started ringing.

..

"Hello? Is this room 604?"

..

"Ah. Guten Tag. This is Germany. I was wondering if you would like a ride to America's beach house? Italy and Japan are with me right now."

You smiled at the very thought.

"Good, good. I'll be there in ten minutes... Italy, did you remember to pack a change of clothes? (Ve~! I'll get some right now!) No, Japan, we won't be playing badminton, you CAN'T bring that.."

Germany's heavy sigh was quite audible over the phone.

"Wait for us at the hotel lobby, all right? Good."

Somehow talking to Germany made you feel better. Compared to Russia, Germany was pleasantly predictable.

* * *

You were waiting outside the lobby with your clothes and other fabric-based objects in your travel pack, and the unusual demands of America in a hastily recovered shopping bag.

A metallic grey Hummer rode up the driveway and screeched to a halt right in front of you. The paassenger side window opened up. Before he even stuck his head out the window, Italy Veneziano's signature hair curl popped out. You noticed he was topless.

"Ve! Morning~!"

Germany leaned over to the passengers' side over Italy, gently pushing the smaller nation back into the seat. Thankfully he was in his black tank top. Amazingly, his hair wasn't combed back in the usual military fashion, but had been artfully styled into a trendy, spiky blonde mess. You guessed the two other Axis Powers had something to do with it. Either way, he looked damn good.

"Hop in the back. You don't mind sitting next to Japan, right?"

In all honesty, you didn't.

..

"Good girl."

"Ve~"

Italy wrapped his arms around Germany's neck. Under normal circumstances, you were sure that he would have gone rigid, and carefully, carefully squirm out of the hug...

Your eyes went wide as Germany gave Italy's cheek a playful pinch, followed by a quick nose-to-nose Eskimo kiss. A pleased squeak came from the back seat.

"Hm? Why are you still standing there? Get in."

The Hummer was much taller than the other cars you were used to, and after opening the door and unceremoniously tossing your stuff in, you carefully climbed into the seat. Japan, in a Hawaiian shirt with a Hello Kitty pattern and some very demure beach shorts, meekly waved at you, clutching an inflated swim toy shaped like a leek. He had visibly gained weight, but still maintained an obvious Asian figure.

"Ohayo gozaimasu. It is a pleasure to meet you again."

He bowed slightly, and you return the gesture.

Germany revved up the engine, and the Hummer cruised back up the avenue.

"Ve~ Uwoah! That's a nice dress you're wearing~"

You were wearing the one you'd picked out yesterday on your trip with Russia. Germany briefly stopped at a red intersection and took a good look at you.

"Hm. Where did you get that?"

..

"**EH?**"

Japan and Italy both had half-scared, half-amazed looks.

"Y-you went sh-sh-shopping with **RUSSIA?**"

"D-daijobu? Are you all right? Were you not hurt?"

..

"Ve? You're.. friends with Russia now? That's... That's really cool..!"

Italy looked at you with a mixture of pride and adoration. It was really hard to tell with his almost-shut eyes.

"That's a relief. I thought I would have had to call in my men. I should have known that you could handle it by yourself."

The light turned green. Germany kept his strong hands on the wheel and drove into a rich-looking subdivision.

Japan gave you a strong look.

"To have not only survived an encounter with Russia-san, but to have forged a friendship with him... Ojou-san, you have my well-deserved respect."

You shrugged, saying that it wasn't as momentous as it sounded.

"It would be my honor if we could also be allies! A person like you, who is both beautiful and fearsome.."

..

"I am completely serious. Please become my friend as well!"

"Ve~! It's easy to become friends with her, Nihon-kun~ She's not scary like Russia. She's really nice~!"

Italy reached over and took your hand in his.

"See? She won't bite~ Even Fratello and Spain and big brother Prussia all like her! Oh, and France-niichan as well!"

Japan seemed wary of you, so you decided to take the initiative. You took Japan's right hand in your left, and put it on top of Italy's.

"...!"

Japan blushed. You could feel his pulse quickening.

"There we go~ Now we're all friends! Wait, Germany, can I borrow your hand?"

"Italy, I'm driving."

"Oh.. Right. Ve."

Italy's curl drooped a couple of inches.

"But Germany is friends with you too, right? So that makes all three of us now~ Yay~!"

"I am glad to have a strong ally such as yourself, Ojou-san!"

Japan gave you a determined look. You weren't sure if this was a good or a bad development, but you were certainly sure that this was normal behavior for the Oriental nation. And why was he calling you ojou..? You'd watched enough anime to know what it meant.

You felt Japan's hand squeeze tightly around yours. It was a nice feeling. You looked up at him to find him smiling happily.

"I hope we will become good friends. The next world conference will be held in Tokyo, so would it be all right if I could bring you on my next shopping trip?"

..

"Mm! I'm looking forward to it!"

You had this wonderful little happy feeling from being surrounded by the Axis Powers, all of whom held you in high regard. It was nice~

* * *

America's beach house was huge, one of those medium-sized mansions full of glass built in a modern style. Random plants were tastefully arranged according to color rather than style, and you suspected the hand of a professional decorator.

Germany parked his hummer in a large patch of asphalt not too far from the front door. A bright red Maserati, a snow-white Impreza, a large Range Rover and a sleek BMW were parked there, along with a Harley Davidson.

"The BMW is my brother's. Looks like he arrived here before we did.."

..

"Ve! Are these all America's cars?"

"I highly doubt it. I am sure however that the motorcycle belongs to America-kun.."

"The Maserati is England's."

Germany said this with a smirk.

"He does like to show off when he's here. In other countries he'll be very subdued, but he and America compete so much it's almost funny."

You stare at the red car, realizing that the English gentleman wasn't quite as boring as you thought he was.

The four of you walked to America's door (Germany strode, Italy skipped, Japan demurely walking with his flip flops slapping against the pavement) and Germany rang the doorbell.

Within seconds, America himself almost ripped the door open.

"Yo! Luddy! Feli! Kiku! And.. what was your name again?"

You reply, slightly annoyed.

..

"Oh, right, right! Sorry, my bad. I'm horrible with names and faces. Come on in, guys!"

The inside of the mansion was quite spacious. The foyer opened up to a large room with a dining area and a large patio visible through a set of glass sliding doors. The whole place was littered with sports memorabilia, and there was a huge banner screaming "GO MAVERICKS!" stuck to one of the walls. Past the patio was an excellent seaside view.

"Like it? I decorated the room myself! It being the playoffs and shiz. Did you bring what I asked? Great! Yao's in the kitchen making lunch now, you should go bring him the stuff.."

"Ve~! Gil-niichan and Spain-niichan and France-niichan are already at.. the.. beach."

Italy ran to you and spun you around quickly.

"Ehehe. I don't think you should see France-niichan.."

America, confused, peered out the glass doors. After a couple of seconds, he burst into laughter.

"Why not? **OH. FRANCIS!** I know this is a private beach, but no skinny dipping! Put some pants on before Vash gets here and shoots your balls off!"

"**ALFRED! Get your lousy arse over here and help me castrate this son of a-"**

"Calm down, Arthur! Yeesh, you being his best friend and all, you should be pretty used to this-"

"Ah! Is that Italy and Germany? Hola!"

Spain waved cheerfully, oblivious to France's nakedness and a certain South Italian meltdown..

**"About time, you goddamn American! Deport this hairy pervert! CHIGI!"**

"Oh! Fratello! I didn't see you there!"

Italy ran to greet his brother. Germany sighed, put down his things and went to discipline the Frenchman, dragging America along with him.

Japan had apparently seen France's.. assets, and was fighting off a blush. He took you hand and ushered you into a hallway..

"Simply appalling, stripping in front of a lady.. I really don't understand the culture of other countries.."

He shook his head.

"Ojou-san, I believe you were entrusted with some supplies? The kitchen is over that way..."

Japan motioned to a large staircase that led to a downstairs area, where you could hear the sound of pots and pans clanging against each other echoing off the walls.

"If you wish, I bring your belongings back to the dining area.. I don't think the conflict earlier will be resolved any time soon.."

..

"All right. I will ask America to have someone fetch you when we have managed to contain France-san."

Japan bowed politely, and you return the gesture. You hand him your travel pack and America's requested swimming things. He smiled at you, and rather hesitantly went back to the foyer.

* * *

You enter the kitchen, full of stainless steel appliances worthy of Master Chef. China, in a loose white cotton shirt, corduroy pants and loafers was fumbling with what appeared to be an automatic fruit peeler.

"Ara? Oh, it's you, aru! Long time no see! Put the things here. I hope America gave you the correct instructions, aru.."

You put down the bag, which was full of strange things that America had instructed you to buy.

"Eh? I didn't ask for peanut butter.."

China went through the bag like a hurricane.

"These are the wrong onions, aru... And pfft! Tofurkey? What on earth is this blasphemy, aru?"

China's cheeks puffed up, and he pouted.

..

"Ah? No no, I'm not mad at you, aru! I know he just told you to get these things in a hurry. Did he give you a grocery list?"

You nod and show him your phone with the list that America had mailed you.

"No wonder, aru! He got half the ingredients messed up! What on earth is a rutebaga, aru? I'm sure I asked for _pe chay!_"

Some what?

"_Pe chay!_ You know! Ah, right. America calls it Chinese cabbage. Even though it isn't really cabbage. Maybe he used Babelfish again, aru.."

China picks out the correct ingredients and places them on the table, tossing the rest into a huge refrigerator.

"Hmm. At this rate we'll never get lunch done, aru. And I refuse to let him order fast food like he did the last time! The Chinese fast food in this country is horrible, aru! Why must Americans eat everything with gravy and barbecue sauce..?"

You snicker. He reminded you of Japan. Were all Asians like this?

..

"What time is it now? Hmm. There's more than enough time to cook, but we do not have enough ingredients, aru.."

America's head appeared through the doorway.

"Yo, China! How's lunch going?"

"Horribly, aru. It's all your fault. You sent her the wrong ingredients to buy, aru. Unless you want peanut butter bacon pudding, I can't make you lunch."

"That actually sounds pretty yummy though!"

"Ai yah! You and your strange tastes will poison us all, aru."

"If you don't want to cook, maybe England.."

..

"**NO. JUST NO, ARU.** I will cook, but I need the proper ingredients! Which are not here at all, aru! Where is the nearest market, aru?"

"There's a superstore about 10 minutes away from here by car! If you want, I can lend you a car! They've all got gps!"

"Are you sure that the gps will not lead me into a ditch?"

China seemed skeptical. America waved it off with a shrug.

"The last time that happened to me was 5 years ago. Technology's come a loong way since then! Just in case though, stay on the paved roads. But then again, all the roads in the city are paved! Cool, right?"

"All right, aru. I shall be borrowing the Impreza then."

America turned to you.

"Hey, I don't think you should come up there for a while.. Switzerland and Austria just arrived. England and Germany are trying to keep a war from breaking out.. I really can't understand those two, a little nudity never hurt anyone, right?"

"Was it France?"

America shrugged again.

"Ai yah. I'm surprised they haven't killed him yet, aru."

China sighed and looked at you.

"Well, upstairs is not for the eyes of a lady, aru! Shall we be going then?"

Without warning, China drags you off.

* * *

The superstore America mentioned was indeed a SUPER store. The inside resembled a large, white, well-lit warehouse with decent air conditioning. It was the size of a football field! (You had a feeling that whoever built the facility deliberately designed it so that it would be described as such. Americans!) You had managed to get there with China in 5 minutes flat.

"Americans are such pansy drivers, aru! They should try driving in Beijing. They will go nuts at rush hour, aru!"

..

"..are you all right, aru? You don't look too good. You might be carsick, aru."

China's driving, to say the least, was Initial D quality. This meant that being in the passenger seat with him at the wheel was tantamount to sitting next to him on a roller coaster. With corkscrews.

..

"Oh, my driving, aru ka..? I apologise! I will try to be gentler in the future, aru."

He promptly patted your head, looking you straight in the eye.

"If you wish, we can get you some snacks later, aru. Money is no object, aru!"

China waved his red credit card around.

"We don't have a lot of time, so let's hurry, aru. Grab a basket and let's go!"

China himself swiped an enormous shopping cart from the repository and ran off to the meat section. You hastily grab a basket and sprint after him to find him barking instructions to the poor attendant on duty.

"5 kilos of ground pork, aru! Oh, wait, they use the other measuring scheme here, don't they.."

"It's perfectly okay, sir! We have a scale for kilograms as well."

The attendant pressed a few buttons on the electronic scale and the measure changed to kg. As he scooped up the pork, you noticed China picking out a few ounces of chicken with another attendant.

What on earth was he making..?

"Yes, use that part, I want none of the wings.. Yes, aru?"

..

"Ah! No wonder. Did I not tell you in the car, aru? I must have forgotten. _Lau leh._ I must be getting old, aru."

He briefly facepalmed. The attendants handed him his pork and chicken, and he plopped it into the kiddy seat of the grocery cart.

"Today we will be making four dishes! These are perfect for lunchtime. They're packed with energy and nutrients. One is spicy, so it'll make sure that those barbarians making a ruckus back at America's house will drink water. You do not want to be dehydrated when you are playing even in the water, aru!"

You and China quickly find the vegetable section.

"4 kilos of rice.. Hmm. _Hau, hau!_ I am glad that Americans at least have varied tastes. They try to cook everything, aru! This means that they have decent ingredients at least!"

China begins to hoist the bags of rice into the grocery cart.

"We do not have time to be shelling -oof!- peas, aru. Please go to the frozen vegetables and pick a pea and carrot mix, aru!"

You find the frozen vegetables. Different varieties of frozen food were also there, like french fries and Japanese edamame soybeans. You select three very large bags of a green pea, carrot and yellow corn kernel mix and run back to China.

Presently, he was examining packs of tofu for freshness.

"Those look good, aru! Put them in with the meat. That helps keep it cool."

..

"The cold things should be with the cold, and the not cold things should not, aru! Otherwise your meat will drip over your _Siu Mai_! That's basic grocery shopping!"

You were not aware that such a protocol existed.

"You will learn these things if you live alone, aru. It took me a bit of time as well, but I got the hang of it, aru."

A strong expression crossed China's face.

"Anyway, the vegetables and the rice are for the Yang Chau. That is Chinese fried rice to you foreigners. But they do not have the correct kind of sausage.. This might be a problem, aru."

China tosses two large blocks of plastic-wrapped tofu into the cart. You notice that they seem to be labeled differently.

"Do they have herbs? They should, aru.. While I'm picking, could you pick a pair of nice, big leeks for me? Like what Hatsune Mika has! And some sprigs of green onion, aru!"

You nod and go in search of the leafy vegetables. They were pretty easy to find. You pick out a nice strong bundle of green onion, and two very impressive-looking leek stalks, nice and white in the middle, a very fresh green at the tips of the leaves. You put them in your basket.

This time, you find China perusing different types of beans.

"Good timing, aru! Those are some nice-looking leeks! America got me the normal ones. Useless, aru.."

China takes a half-kilo of a strange black bean and puts them in the now half-full cart.

"Now we need chili powder and a certain something, that does not seem to be here.. Oh. I know, aru!"

He whips out a pink cell phone (surprisingly a button phone instead of a touch phone like the Italies had) with a Shinatty-chan keystrap, and dials a number.

"Hello! Yong Soo!"

"_Hello hyung! What can I do for you?"_

The volume was surprisingly loud. China winced.

"I need a favor for lunch!"

"_Uwoah~! Is it something only I can do?"_

"Yes, yes, aru. There is an Asian market near your embassy, I need you to go there before coming to America's house and pick some things up for lunch!"

"_Wooh! It's a mission, da ze~!"_

"I need you to get me some barbecued pork, the reddest you can get! A huge slab of it! Some Chinese sausage, about a kilo will do. Oh, and some of your mild chili powder and doenjang!"

"_Chili and doenjang? Are you making mapo tofu, hyung? I'll get you some good Szechuan sauce too, da ze!"_

"Good soy sauce would be better, aru. And black vinegar! You got all that, Yong Soo?"

"_Yes, hyung! I'll be at America's house in a jiffy!"_

"Come in through the back door, the stuffy Scandinavians are having a riot, aru."

"_Understood! Sneakiness originated in Korea, da ze!"_

China hung up, and sighed.

"Originated in Korea my ass, aru. Anyhow, let's get the rest of the vegetables. Can you get me a huge bundle of bean sprouts, aru? Not the ones that come from kidney beans, but the ones from those small green seeds.. I forgot what they call them in your language, aru.."

..

"Pick up some cloves of garlic and a large sprig of ginger too, aru."

You were curious.

..

"Hmm? Oh, the vegetables are for spring rolls, aru. We still have to pick up flour for the wrappers.. I'll be here picking out _pe chay_, aru!"

You find the requested ingredients all in one place. You select several pieces of garlic, a vaguely human-shaped ginger root and a bundle of white-stalked bean sprouts.

China examined the ginger you picked out and nodded in approval.

"You are good at this, aru! This ginger you picked has a very fresh scent. It'll serve us well! Now for the flour!"

China's cart had become quite heavy at this point and he found it difficult to push.

"Pfft. This is heavy, aru. You go on ahead and pick me a good flour. We need them for the dumpling and the spring roll wrappers.. I'll be looking for cooking wine in the alcohol section, aru. Don't pick rice flour now! They are two completely different things, aru."

..

"You see, normal baking flour is for bread, aru. Bread! It's made from wheat. Rice flour is made from rice, aru, and it's used to make things like sticky dumplings and mochi, aru yo."

..

"No, we will not be making mochi, aru! The Xiao Long Bao I have planned are difficult enough, aru. If you're worried about dessert, I am pretty sure that America has hidden a ton of ice cream somewhere that he will force-feed to everyone aru. Plus, they're better for snacks. Hmm, maybe I should have asked Yong Soo to buy some mochi as well.."

You nod and go in search of the flour.

* * *

The baking section had various oddments like Shinatty-shaped cookie cutters, American flag cake moulds and pre-packaged fondant flowers and birthday candles. The flour, as it turns out, was sold in large sacks almost as tall as China was, way too big for you to fit in a basket!

You march back near the store entrance to retrieve a cart, when you feel a familiar chill..

A huge figure grabbed you from behind a display of vacuum cleaners and held you tight.

"It's you~! I did not expect to see you here, da! Is she gone?"

You look up to find a very scared Ivan Braginski shivering in his.. cargo pants? It seems that Russia had forsaken his usual overcoat in favor of something sunnier. He was also wearing the shirt you'd bought him yesterday, and his blue crocs. Somehow he did not seem as intimidating as he did yesterday.

He actually looked kind of cute.

"Be-be-belarus put a tracking device on the car I was riding earlier.. I got out at a street corner and hid in here.."

..

"You haven't seen her..? That is good, that is good, that is good.."

Russia calms down for a moment. He hugs you even tighter and buries his face in your hair.

"I am oh so very glad to see you, da! But what are you doing here?"

..

"Shopping? Oh! You are here with China?"

You explain the situation to him.

..

"I see. That is so very like America to mix up the ingredients. He has always had problems with instructions. Would you like a hand? I believe that feeding all the countries would require quite a bit of food.."

You nod. You remember how much difficulty China had been having with the rice sacks, and you were pretty sure too that you needed a forklift to lift the bag of flour earlier.

..

"Mm! I am happy to help a friend~!"

Russia smiles at you happily, Belarus forgotten.

* * *

The flour bag, as it turned out, was a walk in the park for Russia to carry. He hoisted it on his shoulder as if it were a large pillow.

"Put your things in the cart~ It will be easier that way."

Russia gently set the flour in the huge cart, which visibly bent a bit from the weight. You gingerly place your basket on top of the flour bag and try to push the cart.

Oof!

"Shall I get that for you?"

Russia smiles at you and takes the cart by the handle. He pushes it with ease. Man, was he strong..!

"Let us go look for China~"

You arrive to find China still struggling with his cart, which now had three bottles of rice wine and several other mysterious bottled condiments.

"Ah, about time you came back, aru! I was-"

China stared flat out at Russia and his jaw hung open.

"R-R-RUSSIA? What are you doing here aru?"

"Ahaha~! Prvyet, China~"

Russia waves childishly. China hides behind his cart and hisses at you.

"I told you to get FLOUR, aru! How is that big oaf flour?"

..

"Oh? He helped you? Hmph. I suppose that bag IS rather big, aru~"

"China! That looks heavy~ Do you need help?"

"I can push this thing myself, aru!"

China pulls his sleeves up to his elbows and takes a deep breath. You and Russia were puzzled for a second.

A strange breeze flew through the warehouse, and seemed to revolve around China. He grasped the cart handle firmly, and to both your surprise, China managed to push it as if it were empty.

"A little chakra does wonders, aru! Shall we go then?"

China had a cute, triumphant look on his face.

* * *

Russia proved extremely helpful into loading the groceries into the back of the Impreza. He also was helpful in balancing out the load. The bags of rice and flour, having been placed in the trunk, nearly tipped the sedan up on its rear wheels. China immediately shoved Russia into the front passenger seat, and the car righted itself.

Driving back to America's house, you find a very impatient Korea sitting on the doorstep eating a popsicle.

"Oh! Hyung! Unnie~! You certainly took long enough!"

Korea hugged you, and attempted to glomp China rather unsuccessfully.

"Off! Off me, aru!"

"I missed you hyung~!"

"You just saw me yesterday!"

"Hello, Korea~"

Korea looked up at Russia.

"Hello, Russia-hyung! Anyong Haseo~!"

"Don't just stand there, Yong Soo! Help us get the kitchen ready."

"Unnie~! You help too!"

You nod and assist in moving the groceries. Korea and China picked out the ingredients and began measuring things.

"May I help too, da?"

"...just bring in the things, aru. I don't think you'll be helpful in the kitchen, aru."

"But hyung! We need someone to roll out the dough~! Russia-hyung looks like he'll be pretty good at it, da ze~!"

Russia smiled his sunniest, most juvenile smile. You couldn't help but giggle.

China gave Russia a highly suspicious glare.

"No adding vodka to the batter or anything like that, aru."

"Mm!"

* * *

"First things first! Korea will handle making the Mapo Tofu, and I'll take care of the broth for the Xiao Long Bao. Russia, you get started on the dough."

..

"Hm? Oh, you start preparing the vegetables for the spring rolls. Wash them first in a colander, aru."

..

"Eh? A colander? It's the thing that looks like a wok with holes, aru. I don't know why it's called that."

You go in search for a colander amongst the strange and wonderful place that was America's kitchen. You soon find that America seemed to have been victim to his own home shopping television programs and had just about every strange kitchen tool on the planet. You open a cupboard to find magic absorbing towels, strange blenders, multicolred cookie cutters, what looked like a potato peeler, a vegetable dicer...

Holding a huge pot, China marched by and shut the cupboard.

"You need none of those, aru. A chopping board and a knife will suffice."

You nod and look some more. You finally find a dusty colander in a cupboard under one of the counters.

"Unnie, you should wash that first, I think!"

You look up to see Korea dicing strange herbs and tossing them into a bowl. His fingers were red with chil powder.

Man, these Asians were fast..!

You run to the sink and give the colander a quick bath.

"Use cold water on the vegetables, aru! It makes them crisper. Be careful not to get diswashing soap on any of the vegetables!"

You find the vegetables resting innocently amongst the ingredients and toss them into the colander in the sink. You run cold water over them and scrubbed them quickly with your hands to get the dirt off, then used a vegetable soap to rid the skin of any chemicals that they might have been treated with.

Russia walked by with the sack of flour on his shoulder.

"Hmm~ I think you should peel some of those. The peeler's in that drawer over there."

..

"Careful not to hurt yourself, okay?"

Russia gives you a pat on the head. You briefly realize that you might have flour on your head as a result, but the moment passes.

"Oi, Russia! Get to work, aru. I can't make sense of America's weird mixer."

"That's because it's a European mixer, hyung."

"It doesn't matter if it's European or Russian, it was made in my country, aru! That makes it Chinese!"

"Ahaha! China has a point, da~"

"But hyung, mixers originated in Korea, da ze~!"

Peeling the vegetables turned out to be a simple enough task. By the time you'd peeled them all, Russia was halfway done with the dough, Korea was chopping the tofu, and China was mixing an odd mix into the broth.

"Hm? This is agar, aru. You get it from seaweed. It'll gelatinize the broth so we can put it into the dumplings, aru."

..

"That's the secret to Xiao Long Bao.. the broth, aru. Oh! I see you've peeled the vegetables. Good work, aru. Now go chop them! Korea should be done with the chopping board.."

"I'm not done yet hyung! I've got tofu all over mine. But there's an extra one in one of the cupboards!"

"Which one?"

"That high one! I nearly fell over trying to get it, da ze~"

China huffed.

"Annoying Western architecture. They think everybody is tall, aru."

You weren't too tall yourself. Trying to reach the chopping borad proved to be difficult, and even hopping on your tiptoes didn't seem to help.

"Ai yah. Let me try, aru."

China reached up, his sleeves dangling around his elbows. It looked like he couldn't reach it either.

"Mou! That annoying America has done it again, a—ARU?"

Russia had snuck up behind China and was carrying him by the waist.

"There~ you should be able to reach it now~"

"**GYAAAAAH! PUT ME DOWN, ARU!**"

The 4000-year old China was flailing about like a small child. You and Korea started laughing in hysterics.

"You should get the chopping board first, yes?"

"**You're** tall, aru! You should have just gotten it instead!"

"But I have flour all over my hands.."

"..which you've gotten all over my shirt, aru. Fine!"

China seized the offending chopping board and handed it to you.

"Now put me down, aru!"

Instead of putting him down, Russia gave him a quick hug. To him, China was as light as a stuffed animal.

"China is all soft~"

"**LET GO OF ME, ARUUUUU!**"

"Okay~"

With that, Russia literally let go. China bounced on the floor a few times before coming to a halt near the oven.

"That hurt, you big oaf!"

"But you told me to let go."

Korea was now on the floor in fits of laughter. You could barely contain your own amusement.

China looked at you insidiously.

"What are you just standing there for? Go chop the vegetables, aru!"

* * *

After chopping the freshly washed vegetables and defrosting the frozen ones, China had you and Russia prepare the spring rolls The spring roll filling was mostly meat and certain vegetables. While you were mixing the ingredients into a large bowl, Russia rolled half of the dough into paper-thin circles around the size of small plates.

China, who was now waiting for the gelatin broth to set, gave the two of you a quick tutorial on wrapping.

"This is how you wrap spring rolls. You take your wrapper and measure about 3-4 spoons of the mixture to place here."

He reached over and dropped several dollops of meat mixture onto the center of a wrapper.

"Not too much, not too little, aru. Now you roll them into a cylinder shape-"

China effortlessly rolled it closed.

"-see these loose edges? You want to tuck these in so the mixture is kept inside while cooking, aru. Use a little water to make the flour stickier if you need to, aru. Any questions?"

..

"Hm? We won't be frying these just yet, aru. These are best served hot! Place them on that baking tray over there to sit."

Korea himself was a frenzy in the kitchen. While the mapo tofu mixture was simmering on the stove, he was measuring out ingredients for the Xiao Long Bao mixture.

You carefully wrap a few spring rolls. Russia with his big hads had a little more difficulty.

"Ara, there is a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen.."

Japan peeked out from the hall curiously. Seeing Russia, he recoiled slightly.

"Oh! Japan! Good timing, aru! Can you help us with the Xiao Long Bao?"

"Hyuuuung~! Anyoung~!"

"Help you..? In what manner?"

"Wrapping them! I assume you can do the 18-folds, aru?"

Japan nodded, retrieving an apron from the wall. Of course he could do folds, considering where origami came from. What were those 18 folds, anyway?

..

"Ah! Xiao Long Bao dumplings must be wrapped in a specific way. You need delicate fingers to do it properly. Which is why I had Russia do the spring rolls instead, aru."

You stare in wonder as Korea rolled tiny circles of dough even flatter, passing them to China and Japan. China dropped a ball of meat into the center of the dough and made pinching movements around the wrapper all the way to the top to seal the dumpling closed. You were pretty sure you wouldn't have been able to do that in a year even if you had practice. Japan was a tiny bit slower, but still quite fast.

Not one to be outdone, you continue wrapping the spring rolls. This was getting kind of fun..!

* * *

By now it was about half an hour to lunchtime. With the rolls and the dumplings done, you and Russia sit at the kitchen table resting. The three Asians seemed to have taken complete control over the kitchen. Whoever it was that dubbed the French the best cooks in the world probably hadn't seen a Chinese chef in action.

"Those three are amazing, ne~ In Russia, cooking isn't as complicated, but they seem to be so good at it.."

..

"Mm! Chinese food is actually quite tasty. I look forward to lunch~"

China and Korea had found a steam-cooking component on America's oven, and bamboo dumpling baskets in one of America's larger cupboards. Japan, picking up the pace, hunted down rolls of baking sheet and sliced them into neat squares. The sheets were placed on the inside of the baskets, topped by several dumplings, and placed on the cooker one on top of the other. Pretty soon, a warm meaty aroma filled the room.

"Smells perfect, aru. Now to get started on the rest.. Russia! Bring me some of those woks from the top cupboard!"

..

"Hm? We're pretty much almost done here. Good job, aru! You did pretty well for someone who doesn't cook too often!"

You feel pleased that China praised you.

..

"Eh? You still want to help..? Hmm. Ah! Go set the table upstairs. Japan told me that it should be quiet up there now. You can find plates over there in that cabinet closest to the door."

You nod briefly, marching up to the cabinet. Surprisingly, the plates were of uniform make and size. You pick out a stack of plates and a small heap of utensils. Crockery in hand, you delicately walk to the hall.

"Ojou-san, do you need help in bringing the plates upstairs?"

No, it's okay..! You could see perfectly well in front of you, thank you very much!

"All right.. But please be careful."

Arriving upstairs, you notice that the place was indeed quiet. The only sounds you could hear were raucous laughter and the sound of waves coming from the beach. The dining table had been cleared rather hastily, and you noticed several sports magazines on the floor next to the chairs.

You set the plates in place around the table, picking up litter as you went and tossing them into a pile on America's couch.

..

You take a deep breath and stretch for a bit. America's house was kind of nice when it wasn't chaotic.

* * *

The smell of crisp meat filled the air. China emerged from the hall, a large tray of fried spring rolls in hand.

"His place is a mess as usual, aru.. Finished? Good! I must commend whoever hired you for the UN. You are a good hand around the house."

You are pretty sure that this wasn't exactly in the job description, but you thank him anyway.

"Ve~ I smell food. Ooh, sping rolls!"

"Chiiiina~ Cooking again, I see? Where is the wine, there must be wine~"

"It's midday and already you want to get drunk? Why am I not surprised, frog?"

"FOOOOD! About time! Kesesese!"

You could only stare as most of Europe, dripping wet or barely toweled, came in through the veranda and started seating themselves at the large table. By the time you'd regained your composure, the more regal parts of Europe (read: Germany, Austria, Switzerland) arrived to keep the others in place.

America himself came in last, a huge towel with a stars and stripes pattern draped over his shoulders.

"Hold up guys, I'll bet you this isn't all of it yet!"

"It most certainly isn't, no thanks to you aru."

"I hope you didn't crash my car like you did last time, Yao!"

He winked at you.

China huffed.

"I did not, aru! Would you please stop bringing that up whenever you want? I'm going to go bring the food up."

Japan and Korea arrived bearing more food as China went back downstairs. Japan set a huge platter of some drool-worthy fried rice in the center of the table, and after a quick nod at you and the rest of the Axis, he went back downstairs. Korea held what looked like a small vat of mapo tofu and placed it on one end of the table.

Romano took one look at the stuff and immediately seated himself on the other side.

"What? Is my cooking that bad, da ze?"

"I'm not taking my chances after the last time."

Japan returned with Russia, both carrying several stacks of the bamboo baskets at once. The baskets were places wherever there was space left on the table. China soon reappeared with bottles of sauce for everything, and little dipping platters.

"Alfred, you let IVAN in your kitchen?"

England seemed reluctant to touch the baskets.

"Better me than you, Arthur~"

At this remark, everybody but England and Switzerland laughed.

"Vee~ These all look so yummy~ Did you help make these?"

You nodded.

"Mm~ That is mon petit cheri for you~ Your nii-san is proud."

France gave you a wet peck on the cheek. He smelled like the sea. By now you'd gotten pretty used to France's.. affection. He was pretty harmless.. You'd never admit it, but you appreciated it.

"OI! No fair, Francis! I want a shot at her too!"

..

"Kesesese. C'mere!"

NEIN. Prussia was another matter entirely.

"You heard the lady, Gilbert."

Germany glared at him, and he sat back down begrudgingly. Austria gave you an approving look.

"Fine, save the awesome sloppy makeout session for later. Let's dig in!"

"Come on Gil, say grace first!"

You all hold your breath for a miraculous moment of silence.

..

"**ITADAKIMASU~!"**

~End~

* * *

I wonder who I'll do next. .w.

Thanks for reading!

-czieskara


	9. Japan

So.. many.. reviews... *v* thank you~! And again, thank you~!

School still killing me with projects, but at least the programming ones are done .w. Wish I had Estonia to help..

Off shopping with you!

* * *

**Shopping With Hetalia**

**Chapter 9 - Japan**

There wasn't much room to enjoy summer when you had so much work to to. Tension was escalating in the Middle East as usual, which kept everybody on their toes. Norway's sudden illness did nothing to ease anyone either, though Denmark had noticeably picked up the pace on his work. America was the one everyone least expected to fall ill at this point, and the entire situation had gotten messy; China and Russia were considering bailing him out at this point. He HAD let them make a mess in his kitchen, after all.

You sighed and yawned. The plane you were on had just landed at the Tokyo International Airport. Japan himself, who had only months ago seemed like he was going to collapse at any second, seemed to have come back much stronger (albeit with something like a tumor somewhere – nuclear radiation is a hard thing to get rid of). You'd heard amazing stories of highways being fixed in a matter of days and of the citizens acting wonderfully civil and organized during the crisis. Maybe England and America had a thing or two to learn from Japan.

Either way, the members of the G8 (and their ever-present entourage; Russia would inevitably attract Belarus, Prussia would tag along with Germany and so on) would be arriving within the week for their usual conference and after party, the preparations of which you were involved with, of course. You didn't really have a choice in the matter, but you liked how friendly your charges were. You were pretty-well taken care of, after all! Vaguely, you finger your wallet, which still had the mysterious red credit card in it.

You step off the platform with your bag and breeze through immigration. Considering your job description was basically to take care of most of the civilized world, immigration really wouldn't be a problem. You look for your suitcase on the baggage carousel when an announcement rings through the airport.

"_Calling the attention of … Your party is waiting for you at the north entrance."_

Eh?

You don't remember calling people to pick you up. You might have no problems with immigration, but you certainly as hell didn't have the power to summon chauffers at odd hours of the night. After asking directions from a rather stiff attendant, you roll your suitcase to the north entrance, sunflower bag in tow.

Of all the things you find waiting for you, it was a team of (men? Women? You couldn't tell!) in suits, each one with earpieces and microphone lapels. You don't remember violating any international laws or smuggling anything illegal across the pacific. Maybe it was that package Prussia asked you to bring..? You made a note to give him hell the next time you saw him.

You needn't have worried.

"Ah! There she is."

..!

Japan stepped into view and cordially bowed.

"Yokoso. Welcome to Japan, Ojou-san."

You awkwardly bow back.

..

"I hope I haven't inconvenienced you.. I thought it would be appropriate if I welcomed you to my homeland in person, you see."

..

"O-oh. I apologize. I'm afraid as a culture we haven't quite mastered the, er, warm welcome that comes so easily to Europeans.."

You decide to rid yourself of worries, and reach into your sunflower tote for Prussia's strange package.

..

"Hm? From Gilbert-kun? Oh! This is.."

Japan blushed noticeably.

"I shall thank him later. If you could please do not mention this to anyone...?"

You nod. Japan lets out a deep sigh.

"You have my deepest gratitude, Ojou-san."

You'd remembered to look that up. You still had no idea why Japan was calling you "milady" in Japanese, but you found it cute. Besides, he had problems pronouncing your name, so you didn't really mind.

"My personnel shall escort you to the hotel. Before that however, I would like to make a request, if it would be all right..?"

You were free for half the week. Of course it would be all right!

..

"Seeing as it will be a while before the others arrive, I would like you to accompany me on an errand tomorrow.. Are you familiar with the trends in anime?"

You shook your head. You knew someone who was though.

..

"I see. That should more than suffice.. What I need is your, er, expertise in clothing others. I would explain more, but I wish to have your approval first.."

..

"Really? Wonderful- I mean, good. Your experience with the other countries should be invaluable. Um.. May I have your email and phone number so I can discuss the details with you?"

The two of you exchange numbers. You were proud of the fancy new phone you'd gotten, particularly because it'd come out of your earnings and not from the little red credit card everybody seemed to have. It was nowhere near as cool as Japan's though, which appeared to respond to voice commands and went "Noblesse Oblige" afterwards..

"Please notify me when you have settled into your room. I have had your accommodations upgraded as well, with no extra charge. I hope you find your stay in my homeland to your enjoyment."

Japan smiled shyly at you.

You really were beginning to feel spoiled then.

* * *

Japan wasn't kidding about the accommodations. You'd booked a single bedroom, but that phone call of his had booted you several floors up to the deluxe suites. Your minimalist modern Asian hotel room, for once in your life, was bigger than your hotel room, had the prettiest bathtub you'd ever seen in your life, and smelled of flowery oils. There was a Wii and a large LCD tv on one wall of what appeared to be a mini and a hefty volume of Weekly Shonen Jump on the coffee table. Your bed was actually the fluffiest, softest futon you'd ever jumped up and down on (and the blanket was soooo warm!) and the view of downtown Tokyo from your balcony was fantastic.

After helping yourself to the onigiri in the mini fridge (hell, what use was a red card if you couldn't indulge once in a while?), you texted Japan.

..

"_I am glad you find the room nice. Italia-kun and Doitsu-san told me to treat you like a princess, after all."_

Did they now? That was sweet of them..

..

"_Yes. I do not wish to get on Russia-san's bad side either. =7=;"_

Ah. Emoticons. You ask Japan about his plans.

..

"_Hai. You see, there is an important event coming up two days after the conference. America and the others expressed interest in attending, and I intend to give them the, er, wholesome part of the experience."_

..

Your phone made a different noise just then.

"_Yo! I thought you were in Tokyo? What can I do for ya? :3"_

This was Czies, a friend of yours working for the countries like you were. She however was in a different division than you, and was currently assigned to Austria. Whatever it was that she was doing, it appeared to have been boring enough for her to respond to your message.

You finish replying to Japan, and ask Czies what kind of event he was talking about.

Japan replied promptly.

"_Since you have experience in outfitting and supplying them, I would like to have you accompany me in shopping for the requisite items they will need for the event.. I will be paying for the purchases and I will be supervisng to a minimum extent, but the ultimate decisions on what to purches will lie with you."_

..

"_We will be going to a very well-known district in Tokyo.. I'll send you an itinerary along with a map of the places we will be visiting."_

It sounded like Japan wanted to go clothes shopping for the G8. Well-known district? Maybe he meant Shibuya or Harajuku?

Czies chose that moment to reply.

"_Verdamnt! XD I am hating the fact that I'm not assigned to Beilshmidt right now. You are sooooo lucky."_

What event are we going to exactly?

"_Not telling unless you explain the situation to me first! Seeing as that's Japan you're with, he'll be pretty vague, though.."_

You summarize his messages to her.

"_...Clothes? For the G8? A reputable district. And =that= event.. +w+ my otaku senses are tingling."_

Are you going to tell me, or not?

"_Sounds like you're gonna find out pretty soon on your own! Tell you what, I'll send you some files you'll find useful for tomorrow. I'll include a couple of quck instructions on what you should do at certain places and times. It'll make life a little easier for you. Plus, you'll be sure to impress Honda!"_

Czies proceeds to send you a hefty folder of image files through email, divided into smaller folders labeled by the names of various countries. What are these?

"_Like I said, they're useful files. Hey, sorry, I really gtg right now, Bocchan is being a prick, but message me any time you want ;)"_

You sift through the files curiously.

"_Last message before I really leave. You're going to Akihabara tomorrow! Lucky gal ;)"_

* * *

You meet with Japan at the lobby of the hotel you were staying at. Mysteriously enough, the suits from last night had disappeared.

"Ohayo gozaimasu.. Good morning. I hope you slept well."

Japan gives you a quick and casual bow. He was wearing a green Keroro Gunsou t-shirt under a thin-looking sleeveless gray hoodie with dark khaki cargo shorts and red converse sneakers. A pair of headphones that were pink on one side and green on the other were slung around his neck, along with a small but impressive-looking SLR camera. He was also carrying a large backpack that seemed to be empty, or at least partially filled. The outfit made the centuries-old country looking like a boy (or girl, he was just that pretty!) barely out of his teens.

Much to your surprise, Japan seemed to also be surveying your appearance. Czies had advised that you wear simple, understated clothing, and you'd complied by wearing an old shirt from one of your favorite bands, casual jeans and the espadrilles from the shopping trip with Russia. You'd made sure to bring your pack as well.

"You seem quite well-prepared."

..

You casually mention Czies.

"I see. That was a very good course of action. This acquaintance of yours.. Where is she stationed?"

..

"Hmm. I'll make sure to remember that. Shall we be going then?"

* * *

Funnily enough, instead of taking a car like the other nations had, Japan leads you to the train station. He taps his red card at one of the ticket machines and selects two tickets to a place that you couldn't quite read. You had difficulty with kanji...

..

"Hm? Oh, are you having problems with the language here..?"

..

"I see. If you want, we can pick up a phrase book for you.."

You remember Czies's advice.

"_Phrasebooks are useful if you're studying, but not much help when you're lost and asking for directions! Ask Honda to teach you stuff instead and watch him go. You'll know what I mean."_

You ask Japan if he could teach you instead.

..

"E-eh? Really? I suppose I **would** be the authority on such things.. Er. Uhm. Shall we get on the train first?"

Japan hands you your ticket and leads you to the turnstiles. Being a weekday, there were a lot of people who looked like they were going somewhere important, just like in Germany. You suddenly missed the easygoing atmosphere of Italy.

You and Japan walk up a flight of stairs to a well-lit train platform. Interestingly enough, the signs here had English, although the ticket machine outside didn't have such conveniences.

"Uhm. Are you all right?"

..

"Mm. This must be new for you.. I agree that public transport in Japan is a little different from most countries.. You grew up in Europe, right? You must be more accustomed to taking buses and such.."

..

"I see. There are trains in Europe as well.. But they are used more like our Shinkansen is used, to go in between provinces.. Sou. Sou. I admit that we did acquire the technology from Arthur-san.."

..

"Mm! But as you can see, trains are much more commonplace here. We're very proud of them."

Japan seemed pumped up. Maybe this was that "otaku" phenomenon you'd heard about.

After alighting the train, the two of you take seats next to a window. You could see most of the metropolis flying by along with an odd assortment of billboards and ads. Aside from the working population, you noticed quite a few people in civilian attire, but unlike in other countries everyone was dressed pretty simply..

Japan looked a little excited.

..

"Oh. Um. I really, really look forward to going to Akihabara. It's a feeling that does not go away at all no matter how long you've been there."

What sort of feeling?

"Uhm.. I think it would be like the feeling a child gets when he first sees a department store.. I myself was quite amazed the first time I went to one! There were so many things on the shelves and on display..."

Japan's eyes were sparkling. It was a little cute and a little childish. You remember China, who sometimes acted like a kid himself. Was this common for older nations?

The train slowed to a halt, and Japan stood up.

"We're here..!"

A lot of the other passengers appeared to be of similar mind, and were crowded around the exits.

..

Japan suddenly takes your hand.

"I-I-it would be bad if w-we got se-se-separated from each o-o-ther, r-right?"

He was blushing at a full on red now. You had to smile.

* * *

Akihabaraaaaaaa~!

..is probably what Czies would say right now. Her instructions at this point were to simply let Japan take the lead, and take everything in, and be careful not to touch anything suspicious.

"_Try not to be too touchy with Japan here, lest you want to to be stared at by half the men on the street. It's not exactly a couple place."_

The district was well-known in popular culture to be the mecca of all things anime. Indeed as the two of you walked out of the station you could see banners for Evangelion products and other odd messages printed on tarpoulins. Stores on the street level advertised their wares, which ranged from electronic components like circuit boards, fanmade comics (_"Doujinshi! Remember the term!"_), figurines, and manga. Japan had wisely let go of your hand, but you still stuck close to him.

"Our first stop is a bookshop I frequent.. Today is when the monthly releases come out, you see, and I wanted to pick them up."

..

"Releases? I usually buy several tankobon along with anime and hobby magazines.."

Tankobon?

"Oh! Uhm. Publishers like Jump usually release one chapter of a lot of manga weekly in a compilation.. A tankobon is several chapters of the same manga.."

..

"Mm. As for the magazines.. Most anime magazines publish schedules of the anime episodes to be broadcast for the month.. A lot have free gifts as well. There was one magazine recently that I think had a free limited edition figurine as a gift if you got a monthly subscription.."

Japan looked down.

"I didn't get that one.."

Aww. You pat his head.

Japan looks at you with a slightly happy expression.

"Thank you. I knew you were kind, but to be so gentle as well.."

Ehehe.

..

Japan blushed demurely.

"Let's go."

The "bookstore" had volumes upon volumes of manga, novels and other books of similar nature. They also appeared to sell doujinshi, and had a whole separate section for them. There was also a section which contained suspicious material that Czies had warned you about.

"_Think twice before touching something with a little girl on it. There might be this weird manga ban right now, but you still want to be careful!"_

Japan marched over to the middle of the store. Books and magazines were arranged in neat piles according to title and publisher. They appeared to be the newer releases. You recognized some of the anime characters on the covers of the magazines.

"Uhm. Feel free to look around.. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.."

Japan had quickly amassed a small stack of magazines and was now comparing tankobon.

You give the magazines a quick look. Most of the magazines were periodicals with news and interviews of famous voice actors. The hobby "magazines" Japan referred to were the size of small phone directories and contained dozens of pictures of Gundam and other robot models, as well as figurines.

You decide to look around the rest of the store. Aside from manga and magazines, the store also had various game walkthroughs in Japanese – but some were simple and easy enough to understand if you had a dictionary in hand. You find one for the game that you and Prussia were currently playing, and decide to take two copies, one for him and one for yourself.

Some books barely contained any text at all. These appeared to be artbooks, each containing colored illustrations by certain manga artists. You see several from Naruto and Bleach, but a surprising amount from other series as well. Making sure that you weren't perusing through any R-18 ones, you decide to look through several.

You find something labeled Black Rock Shooter. The character designs were okay, but the way the artist colored them was really interesting..

Japan approaches you, his small stack of magazines having grown into a small mountain of books.

"Oh. I didn't know you were interested in huke-san's artwork.."

..

"Ah. You should watch that then. If you wish, I could lend you a dvd of the animation... He also has an ongoing anime that I would recommend!"

It seemed like Japan had gone into full-blown otaku mode.

..

"All right then. Shall we go pay for our purchases? All the establishments we will be visiting accept credit cards, so you can use your red card.."

You'd feel better using your own money though..

..

"You might want to save that for any cash purchases you might need to make. Some of the things we'll be buying are cheaper if you pay in cash.."

You find yourself in front of the cashier. Japan fumbled in his wallet for something, and appeared to be mumbling..

"U-uhm, Ojou-san, if you don't mind, would you let me pay for your books? You see if my bill is just a little higher I'll be able to get enough points.."

Eh?

"Points... For my point card.."

Japan was pouting cutely, slightly biting his lower lip. His eyes were wide and a tiny bit teary and very, very pleading. He was holding up a small card with both of his hands. Upon closer inspection, the card was almost full of stamps.

"..please? For Atelier.. I really want it.."

You'd never seen Japan quite like this before. He was almost hopping up on his tiptoes, and it kind of reminded you of Italy.

You decide to let him buy your stuff.

..

"H-hontou? Really? Arigato-! With this I will finally have enough points for Meruru..!"

Japan literally grabbed your books, and scampered to the counter to redeem his points.

* * *

The two of you walk out of the bookstore, Japan with a nifty figurine in hand. Your own purchases were safely in your pack.

Japan was visibly happy. If this were a manga, he'd probably have those bubbly background effects around him.

"Again, you have my thanks. Now where to next.."

You check your watch. The bookstore trip had taken surprisingly long.

"Ah! Would you perhaps like to have lunch? At this time, getting a table shouldn't be too hard. Although we might have to wait a bit.."

..

"Akihabara isn't really known for their food, but the places to eat are particularly nice."

Japan had a determined expression on his face.

"Shall we go?"

You arrived at a small, inconspicuous building with an electronics shop on the ground floor. There was a small line of people (mostly men) leading into a staircase at the side of the building.

You are suspicious.

..

"Ah! I apologize. You see, this is where I usually go to have lunch.."

..

"Please do not make such a face. I would never bring you to any place that you would not be comfortable with.. Would you perhaps like to eat somewhere else?"

You decide to trust Japan.

..

"..thank you. I appreciate your trust."

At this point, the other men in line had noticed you, and were expressing their curiosity in the usual fashion of Akihabara otaku: by alternating stares and gossiping among themselves. You noticed that some of them had brought dolls or large pillows.

(_"Ah. If you see anyone with a pillow or a doll, don't mind them. Try not to interact with them.. Stick to Honda. If Honda brings a doll or a pillow, erm. I have no idea. Try not to ask too much about it..")_

You decide to ask.

..

Japan seemed a little embarassed.

"Erm. The pillows are called dakimakura.. There are plain ones, and there are ones with pillowcases.. In my country, people usually hug them to sleep, but some people, er, use them for other purposes.."

You understand suddenly. They had things like that in Europe, too.

Especially in Germany.

"The dolls are ordinary dolls. Nothing fancy about them.. But they are rather beautiful, aren't they? Some otaku bring them with them as companions.. You know what an otaku is, right?"

..

"Well just to clarify, an otaku is someone who likes something and is generally a fan of that something. Most otaku are anime otaku, but you also have train otaku, military otaku.. I believe the term America uses for them is "geek"..."

You nod.

Several of the people in line appeared to be waving at you rather frantically.

Eh..?

"KIKUUUU-! OOI-!"

You facepalmed. It had to be him.

"G-gilbert-kun?"

Prussia came running from somewhere in the front of the line.

"Yo! Kiku! I see you brought our little princess with you."

Princess...? You now had a feeling you knew why Japan was calling you "ojou".

..

"Kesesese. Nice to see you too. Ne, did you give him the package?"

You nod annoyedly.

"Good! West wouldn't let me out of the house with it. This is why having reliable staff is useful, see.. Not that you're just staff, of course! You're so much cuter! And nicer! Yeah!"

By now the rest of the otaku appeared to have resumed their places. Whatever sort of restaurant you were going to, it seemed to have opened and the line began to move; Prussia's place in line quickly disappeared.

Not that it particularly mattered to him. He inserted himself between the you and Japan.

"Gil-kun, why are you here early..?"

"Haha! I finished work early, but West had to attend a bunch of meetings. So I hopped onto a plane and here I am! After checking in I was hungry, so I went to our usual place. Didn't think you had it in you to bring a girl though!"

While the two nations were chatting, your phone made a noise. It was Czies.

"_Just got word from Bocchan's people that Beilshmidt's gone and left his brother a ton of work. He wouldn't happen to be over there, would he?"_

You should have known that Prussia would skip work. You weren't really surprised.

..

"_Damn XD I really should get myself reassigned! Thanks for the info. How is the trip so far?"_

..

"_Mm. Akihabara does things to people. I've been there myself only once, had a hell of a good time. You should enjoy yourself too! With Gil in the picture, you should be a lot safer."_

"Hey, princess, it's our turn now! Boy, am I hungry.."

* * *

"~Irashaymase~! Goshujin-sama~! Ojou-sama~!"

A team of cute maids with various hairstyles greeted you. Upon seeing you andd Prussia, some of them switched to English.

"Okaerinasai, goshujin-sama!"

A maid with short black hair not unlike Japan's bowed and smiled at him. Japan blushed slightly and bowed back.

"Welcome back, onii-sama."

A tall maid with short blonde hair and striking blue eyes (contacts, perhaps?) gave Prussia a cordial bow. Prussia grinned and gave her a hearty Guten Abend.

A maid who appeared to be the chief of them all noticed you. She was taller than Japan and wore glasses, and had straight, dark chocolate hair. She strongly reminded you of Austria.

"I see we have a new customer. Welcome to Cafe Kokoro, where your heart's desires are fulfilled~! I am the manager, Rodelia, but you may call me whatever you wish. At Cafe Kokoro, you are the master."

She bowed. The other maids were curious at the new arrival, and upon seeing that you were female, they all began chatting amongst themselves.

"Please do not mind them.. We rarely get female customers, you see. They are something of a commodity around here. Before we seat you would you happen to have anything in mind as to what servant you would like?"

Eh?

Prussia patted your shoulder.

"She's asking you what sort of maid you want. Hehe. I asked for a little sister, and I got someone who, well.. Ah, if only West were a girl.. Oh, but you can only pick a girl, though!"

The thought of having a butler never crossed your mind. Oh well.

..

"Mm. I see. How would you like to be addressed?"

You had no idea what this meant. Prussia decided this was his cue.

"Let's go with onee-chan, or something along those lines."

"Understood. Your personal maid shall attend to you shortly. Sakura-chan, bring our masters to their table."

The black haired maid who appeared to be Japan's nodded, and motioned for the three of you to follow.

The cafe had a nice European ambience, with plush seats and varnished wood furniture. It was filled to the brim with otaku who were either eating, comparing purchases with each other, comparing dolls, or interacting with the maids. Sakura led you to a table next to a window with a nice view of the street below, and handed you menus.

"Please ring the bell if you require any of our services, masters."

She bowed again and gave Japan a special smile, then scampered away. Japan immediately brought out his Atelier Meruru figurine, which completely commanded Prussia's attention.

Czies took this most opportune moment to disturb you.

"_Hehehe. Bruder Ludwig is on his way to Japan. Try not to spook Gil, the look on his face when Ludwig shows up should be priceless."_

I'm at a maid cafe, what should I do?

"_Is that Cafe Kokoro? Order the omurice, it's fantastic. Which maid did you get?"_

..

"_Oneechan huh.. I think I might have an idea who. You'll find her pretty familiar. :P Anyway, Imma send you a little list on maid cafe a girl yourself you shouldn't find this too hard to follow.."_

_.._

You were surprised that such a protocol existed. You were a little happy to know that it did.

"Tadaima~! I'm back!"

A perky maid with wavy brown hair in a ponytail appeared at your table. She had large, curious amber eyes

"Gilbert-nii-san! Honda-kun! Aneue! Are you ready to order? Ah, that's right, I haven't introduced myself to aneue..!"

The maid turned to you and bowed with a giggle.

"My name is Alice! I'll be your personal maid here in Cafe Kokoro~ Please take good care of me, aneue!"

She smiled quite happily. It was clear that she enjoyed her job. You found her rather endearing, like a certain Italian..

"Aliiiice-chan~! I missed yooou~!"

Prussia gave her a goofy grin.

"I missed you too, nii-san!"

You had to stifle a laugh. Prussia looked like he was in heaven.

"Hehe~ Shall I call Monica? She might get jealous."

"Who's jealous?"

The blonde maid from earlier strode by with a stack of menus in one hand and an empty tray in the other. She lightly smacked Alice on the head with the tray.

"Itai.. That's mean, Monica!"

"You have a job to do serving our masters. Properly."

You could somehow see why despite the lack of cuteness, Monica appealed to Prussia. Alice was still cuter!

"Ehehe. But look, nii-san is happy!"

"Onii-sama isn't your master, Alice. Your job is to please oneesama."

You noticed the difference in terms of endearment. Maybe they were differences in character..?

"Mmkay. I'll remember that. Hehe~"

The three of you order omurice. You suddenly realize that you have no idea what that is..

"Mm~? Ah! Omurice is super delicious yummy fried rice in an omelet~! We can write a message for you on it too! Would you like that, aneue?"

..

"Got it~! Would you like anything to drink, masters?"

Japan orders something called ramune. Prussia orders a strawberry milkshake.

..

"Haai~! I'll be right back with your orders~!"

Alice runs off, nearly bumping into Sakura in the process.

Japan looks up from one of his anime magazines with concern. Sakura appears to have noticed, and gives him a small smile.

Relieved, he returns to his magazine.

What kind of relationship is this..?

"So! How are you enjoying Tokyo so far?"

Prussia stretched himself out onto the table and gazed at you.

..

"Kesesese. This place sorta grows on you. It's my home away from home! I still have problems speaking the language, though."

"That is because you learn Japanese from subtitles.."

"Doesn't everyone?" Ah, princess, you've been looking at your phone all day.. Who could that be, eh? To divert your attention from the awesome Gilbert Beilshmidt.."

Prussia yawned. You remember the walkthrough you got him, and rummaged through your bag for it.

"Eh? What's that... AH! **WHOA!** Is that for me? Damn! Thanks a whole lot, princess!"

Prussia reaches over the table and pats your head.

..

"Hehehe. Finally, I'll know how to get that stupid wandering legendary.. Wait, what do you mean, **you caught it in two shots?**"

"Oh, that one. You have to put it to sleep and have a monster with a trapping ability to catch it."

Japan was now reading one of his tankobon.

Sakura appeared with the drinks on a tray. She handed you your drink and slid Prussia's over the counter. A bottle of pink soda was gingerly placed on the counter next to Japan. He nodded and smiled at her.

She blushed cutely, hiding her face behind the tray. A bell rang from somewhere in the cafe. She bowed, and went to serve the other customers.

"Is it just me or is Sakura-chan shyer than usual today? Maybe it's because you brought a giiiirl, Kiku."

Prussia was lazily flapping through the walkthrough. Japan pouted.

"What are you talking about? Please don't insinuate things about Sakura-chan."

"Hehehe. It doesn't take a genius like me to see that you have a soft spot for her."

"I assure you, I have nothing but the purest intentions regarding maids."

"Purest intentions... Kehe. I'll make sure to remember that next time I look through your doujinshi collection."

"G-G-Gil-kun..! That's-"

"Haaaai~! I'm back, masters, with your orders~! Omurice, with messages from your maids, with love~"

Alice reappeared with a huge tray loaded with omurice. You were surprised that she could carry something that large with her small frame.

"Yosh! Time to eat!"

Alice gives you the brightest smile you've seen all day and places a plate of omurice in front of you. Written on top in ketchup were the words "For Alice's favorite sister" with a cute heart in the center.

"Now for Honda-kun's!"

Japan's omurice had a haiku written on it, signed by a cherry blossom.

"Profound as always."

He smiled and prepared his utensils.

"And lastly, nii-san's!"

"Yay~! Can't wait... eh?"

"Ehehe. It looks like Monica-chan was jealous after all.."

Prussia's omurice had the words "Oniisama is annoying" on it. You and Japan could barely hold in your laughter.

* * *

"Byebye aneue~! Please come back soon!"

The three of you walk out of the crowded maid cafe into the bright sunlight.

"WASSHOI!"

Prussia stretched his arms.

"Well then Kiku, where to next?"

"We'll be making preparations for that special event next week. I asked ojou to come and help, seeing as she has an eye for dressing people up."

"Ah, right! I heard you went shopping with Russia, of all people! Well, I have to admit that he did look good in a skinsuit, but.. How the hell did you manage to put up with him?"

Prussia stared at you intensely.

..

"Uhuh. I've tried that. That too. And that. Maybe it's because you're a girl."

..

"..you know what? Never mind. I'm too awesome to be hanging out with someone like him anyway! Ahahahahaha!"

It was pretty obvious that Prussia was scared to death of Russia. It looks like you'd earned his respect, though!

The three of you start walking, Japan in the lead.

"The place we'll be going to is one of my little secrets. It's a very reputable shop, and it doesn't advertise at all – which makes it really hard to access. You really have to come by and order the clothing.."

"Good thing I tagged along then! How else are you going to get anything for West?"

Czies had been pretty secretive about this last part of the itinerary. You decided to ask Japan what exactly you would be doing.

"Oh. You see, the summer Comiket is this weekend, and America-kun and the others have expressed interest.."

"Comiket? You mean he wants to go shopping for por-"

"**Heavens, no!** I intend to have them cosplay!"

Cosplay? So the photos Czies sent you..

Oh. **OH.** You had a feeling that your friend had just made your job a lot easier.

"Kiku, let me tell you, I'm pretty sure America would want to go shopping instead. **Especially** for doujinshi."

"No. Just no."

Japan was unusually vocal around Prussia. Likewise, Prussia was relatively polite to Japan, compared to, say, Spain. It was very, very unusual. You'd noticed that they talked regularly at meetings and often spent time together at each other's houses, but you hadn't expected them to be this close.

"You sure you want to let **France** loose on unsuspecting cosplayers?"

"I was hoping you'd keep him in line."

"You hoped wrong! I've got no idea how long I can hold him for, but if Spain's coming to the party then you'll bet Romano will too! HIM, I'm confident about. Princess too! Somehow France is better behaved around you."

..eh?

"I'm not kidding. He treats you like a princess. He calls you that when you aren't around, you know that? I think it kinda suits you too."

Prussia gave you a rare gentle smile. It made him look like his brother.

"I'm jealous. Ne, next time we're back in Berlin, let me show you around! There are lots of awesome places I wanna bring you to. Like the tavern West and I frequent! And one of my old castles! And that church I had built a long time ago, although it's a little dusty now.."

Japan coughed.

"We're here!"

* * *

Japan's fabled cosplay costume supply shop looked like your average hole in the wall Akihabara shop, except with a painted wooden sign instead of the usual plastic signboard. It made the place feel a little rustic.

"I am good friends with the family of the owner.. When the capital was still in Kyoto, they made armor for the imperial army. Now they make armor for a different purpose. Although I imagine you can't really call it armor.."

You enter the shop. Masks, real and imitation katanas and shuriken, magical girl staffs and airsoft guns lined one wall of the room, while the other wall had a huge bookcase with several dozen photo albums and clear ringbound folders on each shelf. It was a little hard to believe that they sold actual costumes here.

"Honda-dono! Welcome, welcome. It is nice to see you."

A middle-aged, jovial old man with a beer belly stood by the counter.

"Good afternoon, Saito-san. I shall be in need of your services as usual."

"Anything for you, Honda-dono. Ah, I see you've brought friends! Welcome, welcome to my humble little establishment. What can this old man do for you?"

He reminded you of Stein from the antique watch store. You noticed that he was a lot more muscular, and had little scratches on his hands and arms.

"We'll be needing several costumes.."

Japan takes out a folder from his backpack. He presents it to Saito, who proceeds to splay the contents onto the countertop. Inside the folder appeared to be full body shots of the G8 (excluding himself), Prussia, Spain, Romano and Austria.

"Oh! Hmm. Foreigners, eh? I might not have a size for all of them, especially this tall one here."

Saito points to Russia.

"Hmm. Hmm. But I'll see what I can do! Don't you worry. Old man Saito has you covered."

"Ojihan! Give me something cool!"

..

"Eh? Oh, right! You're supposed to be the one picking, right? Kesesese. All right!"

Japan nods at you and Saito.

"Oh, I see. Women always have had a better eye for this sort of thing, eh? For me though, the heart of the cosplayer is also important."

Saito walks past the counter and reaches for a wheeled stepladder. He casually hooks it onto a shelf on the bookcase.

"Well then, jouchan, shall we begin? These here are photos and records of every costume that has come out of these doors. You pick a costume, I'll be able to get it to you within a minimum of a couple of days – of course, the more complex the costume, the longer it'll take; We don't usually have Dai-Gurren Lagann in stock for example!"

"Ojou-san, I suggest you start with me to warm up."

Japan smiles at you. You nod and retrieve your cell phone to access the Japan folder. The first thing you see upon Czies' recommendations is a strange robotic ninja with company logos all over the costume. You find it interesting, but you don't like it one bit.

Saito peers at you from atop the stepladder.

"Not too popular yet, that one. He's hard to move in. Blame the design."

You scroll through a bunch of other samurai-like designs before you find a design that isn't too cliché. Czies appears to have ranked this one highly as well. You show Saito the picture.

"Hmm! Raidou! Good choice, young lady. Perfect for one such as Honda-dono."

Saito wheels to a large folder with the label in katakana. He selects a file and returns the folder, and hands the file to Japan.

"Eh? Eh? I wanna see! I wanna see!"

Prussia starts hopping up and down.

Japan takes a quick look at your choice and gives you a proud smile.

"I haven't cosplayed him before, but I was planning to. How did you know?

Czies probably knows, you thought. Either way, since you had the final say, you were feeling pretty confident.

"Heh. Beginner's luck! Let's see you do America's then! Here's a challenge: no athletes or cowboys involved!"

Prussia grinned at you evilly.

You consult your notes. After ignoring three pictures of blonde haired, blue eyed pretty boys, you spot an interesting one. The character himself resembled America enouugh to work, and actually had "American" in the character description included in the file. Thing is, he had what looked like a toaster for a helmet..

Knowing America, he'd probably like that, actually. You show Saito the picture.

"Keith? You're in luck! We've had a bunch of orders for him recently. It shouldn't take too long to duplicate the helmet. I suppose I should make it durable for the American, no?"

Saito gave a hearty chuckle and retrieved the file. You decide to get to work on England next.

Czies appeared to have given little thought to England's folder. You recognized Sasuke from Naruto and Ishida from Bleach. All Czies had in the description was "SEIYUU", whatever that meant. You decide to pick a popular game character for him.

Japan seems to approve of this choice.

"It's ideal for Arthur-san.. Although I hope he's slender enough. I took the liberty of taking their measurements beforehand.."

Saito evaluates the character.

"Quite the colorful choice. He'll need a sword, though.."

Japan and Saito discuss the weapon logistics. You sift through some more records and pick out interesting characters for France and Canada.

Prussia doubles up in laughter.

"Y'know, I think it'd actually work for those two! You're not half bad at this!"

China proved to be a lot more difficult. You were trying not to pick a Chinese character for him... Czies seemed to have other ideas for him as well.

"Huh. China as Fullmetal? Maybe. Maybe not."

That was, of course, until you picked out Russia's. It solved the size problem and made it harder (maybe) for Belarus to get at him.

"..oh. OH. **I see what you did there.**"

Prussia seemed to approve and was highly amused by the combination. A curious Japan stares at the two of you and takes a peek at your phone.

"What on earth are you two laughing over..? Oh, this one! Saito-san, would you happen to have a spare suit of armor around..?"

Saito peers over Japan's head.

"You mean that suit of armor? I'm not selling any at the moment, but you could rent mine for a fee. I'll just get it dusted and it'll be good to go.. But it'll be darn hot in there especially for Natsukomi, so let me install a cooling system in it first."

The Italy brothers weren't as easy to pick for. Czies's files for them consisted of characters in pairs, although virtually none of them actually resembled either Veneziano or Lovino.

Japan and Prussia watched you anxiously.

"If it's Italia-kun, maybe this would work.."

..

"No, no, you've got it all wrong, Romano HAS to be the flamboyant one!"

..

"I have to agree with Gil-kun, but perhaps they shouldn't be paired up like that.. I could think of someone more appropriate for Suzaku."

A sly grin appeared on Japan's face making him look mildly sinister. It scared the heck out of you.

"..holy heck, you're right. Princess, let's leave Suzaku to Spain."

Saito picks out the appropriate files. The pile of pictures on the counter was getting higher.

"Back to Ita-chan.. You sure we can't just shove him into a maid outfit? I'll bet West'd love that."

"Hmm. Italia-kun has always been hard to pick for.. He's just so definitive on his own. Perhaps a pair would be good after all."

..

You decide to look at the remaining nations' folders. There was nothing that could pass for a decent match in Prussia's, and Germany's folder was horribly small. You pick something for him rather nonchalantly.

Something in Austria's caught your eye You show Japan what you had in mind for him.

..

"...! That's.. Now that I think about it, that's perfect!"

"Eh? What's this about that rich kid..? Whoa! This one looks just like him! Leave it to Roddy to look like just about every brunette megane character in existence.. But this one's a butler? Kesesesese.. Butler Roddy.. Now that I think about it, he'd make a horrible butler.."

Prussia began to snicker. Japan seem thoughtful, however.

"This is good. I know exactly who Italy can cosplay to compliment him."

Japan consulted Saito for some details ("Perhaps we could have a ladies' size costume modified for him? He is rather petite...").

"My turn, my turn! Gimme something good! Something with leather and chains and whips!"

As it turned out, Prussia was the most straighforward of the nations to assign a character to. His white hair and red eyes brought several characters to mind even before you accessed his folder. Czies had populated the folder with a bunch of bishonen in outfits ranging from black leather to white armor. You decide to give him a popular game character.

..

"Dante! Hell yeah, baby!"

"Haha..! No character could possibly be better for you, Gil-kun."

"Yeah, but no character could ever be as awesome as me. Kesesesese!"

Prussia began asking Saito about his costume. Japan sighed, and gave you a relaxed smile.

"It looks like today was a big success. Thank you for taking the time to come with me today."

..

"..humble as always.. I could not have done a better job picking characters out for everyone today. You truly are a wonderful person."

..

Japan's gentle eyes and smile made you feel peaceful inside. This was definitely one of your more unusual afternoons with a nation, but you wouldn't mind going out with Japan again. He was quite nice, and you felt yourself warming up to him..

..until that sinister face reappeared.

"I almost forgot.. If you're coming with us to Comiket, you must get a costume of your own as well..!"

E-eh?

"Saito-san makes costumes for girls too! I think you might look good in a plugsuit!"

A WHAT?

"Or perhaps a seifuku, a plugsuit would be too drastic. Perhaps K-ON? Or something more battle-oriented..?"

J-japannnn-!

"Eh? Princess is getting a costume? Maid outfit, maid outfit!"

"Cat ears!"

"HELL YEAH, CAT EARS!"

It looked like you didn't really have a choice, but you decide to let them pick for you. How bad could it be?

You wouldn't know until the day itself came. It would be chaotic. And noisy.

But it would be fun. And it would be another day.

~End~

* * *

Forgive the self insert. I couldn't resist. .w. Also, the maids.. The cafe itself is made up though! Any resemblance is.. cool, I guess..

Japan is an interesting character. He goes from the most chaste to the most perverted in a few centuries.. But he's still nice though! .w. With the almighty power of creative license I made him a little sillier. And cuter.

Wasn't much to think about in this chapter. I've been to lots of stores like the ones Kikkun brings you to.. Never a maid cafe though. I want to ko to Akiba too..!

In case any of you are curious about the cosplay characters:

Japan – Kuzunoha Raidou (Shin Megami Tensei – Devil Summoner Series)

America – Keith Goodman/Sky High (Tiger and Bunny)

England – Kisaragi Jin (BlazBlue)

France – Mephisto Pheles (Ao No Exorcist)

Canada – Allen Walker (D. Gray Man)

China – Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Russia – Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Romano – Lelouch vi Britannia (Code Geass)

Spain – Kururugi Suzaku (Code Geass)

Italy – Alois Trancy (Kuroshitsuji II)

Austria – Claude Faustus (Kuroshitsuji II)

Prussia – Dante (Devil May Cry Series)

Germany – Gabranth (Final Fantasy XII)

Thanks for reading!

-czieskara


End file.
